


Catching Feelings

by th3blackcat



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: A little bit of angst, Actor AU, Alternate Universe - Actors, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Established shallura, Fluff, Happy Ending, Like, M/M, Slow Burn, and a bookworm, he's actually a nerd, he's on the cross country team, i'll explain in chapter one xD, keef is a student, keith and shiro are brothers, klance, lance is a super smart TA, this is a different kind of au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-19
Updated: 2018-08-28
Packaged: 2018-09-09 17:30:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 74,341
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8903326
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/th3blackcat/pseuds/th3blackcat
Summary: It's easy to spot Lance. The college student always has his nose in a book, whether it's for one of his classes, a class that he's a TA for, or for fun. It isn't until Keith, an engineering student who's closer to him than he realizes, saves him from walking into traffic that he realizes that maybe finding solace in books isn't the best way to get through life. Soon enough, the life he knew began to change and the more he learned about Keith, the more he learned about himself.





	1. Act 1: Professor 4-Eyes

**Author's Note:**

> HUGE NOTE FOR THIS FIC: this is a bit different from other fics in terms of the story telling. This is an actor/college au, but the fic and the main plot is the movie that everyone is starring in. The chapter, or act, will always start off with the movie scenes and off-screen moments will be shown at the end of each chapter. The off-screen stuff has a separate plot, so this fic has two plots going on.  
> Just a quick summary: on-screen plot is the movie that's being filmed, off-screen plot is the stuff happening in the lives of the actors.  
> It can get a bit confusing, so let me know if you have any questions and I'll try to explain it better!
> 
> So the cast:  
> Shiro, Keith, Lance, Allura, Hunk, Pidge, Coran - as themselves  
> and introducing  
> Brian, Eric, and Jennie - as themselves (OCs, just so you don't get confused)

 

* * *

_Scene I_

* * *

Lance was on his way to class with his nose in a book. He had to cover a lecture last minute and was reviewing the chapters he would be going over in class. Lance wasn’t nervous – he was far from it. He wanted to make sure that he remembered all the points he needed to cover in the short amount of time he had to prepare. Lance flipped through the pages, not paying attention to where he was walking. People walked around him, avoiding the rushing TA as he refreshed his memory as to what had recently taken place in _Count of Monte Cristo_.

Lance was so engrossed in the story and his side notes, he didn’t notice when he almost ran into someone. The other person managed to step to the side last minute, but their shoulders still collided causing the other person to stop and pull out his headphones.

“Dude!”

Lance didn’t look up. “Oh, sorry,” Lance replied, monotone, not really meaning his words. He turned the page and began to walk forward.

The guy in front of him began to put his headphones back in and began to turn to continue his run when he saw that Lance wasn’t about to stop walking at the intersection. The small group of people around them were waiting for the traffic to stop and the crossing man to signal that they were free to cross the street, but Lance showed no sign of waiting with everyone else. He grabbed Lances’ arm and pulled him back.

“I would suggest that you stop reading and pay attention where you’re going.” He didn’t sound as annoyed as one would think.

Lance glance up at the fast moving traffic. “Ah yes, that would have been quite unfortunate.”

“Quite unfor—” The guy sighed and ran a hand through his hair, a little frustrated. “Look, just stop reading for a bit and pay attention to where you’re walking.” He took the book from Lance’s hand and shut it.

Lance took the book back. “You could have marked the page before shutting it. Monte Cristo isn’t your average flipping book." Lance began to look for the page he was previously on.

The guy took the book again, now fully annoyed. “Stop. Focus on where you’re walking. This can wait.” He shoved the book in Lance’s chest and Lance grabbed it before the guy pulled his hand away. Lance scoffed at the action.

“Be careful, Professor Four-Eyes. I’m starting to think those glasses are for show.” He placed his headphones back in as he jogged off in the way Lance was walking from.

“Ungrateful jock,” Lance huffed as he began to cross the street after the crossing sign appeared.

* * *

_Scene II_

* * *

“Thank you again Lance. I appreciate you covering these next lectures for me.”

Lance nodded at the professor as he set up his PowerPoint. “I don’t mind. It’s my job after all.”

The ginger professor chuckled. “True. But this is more than you should be doing.”

“It’s great for me. This is what I want to do Coran.”

Coran nodded. “Thank you once again. I’ll see you in a month once the conference ends.” He clapped a hand on Lance’s shoulder before leaving.

As Coran left, students began to trickle into the lecture hall, one of them being a particular dark skinned girl with long, silver hair.

“Lance! Are you leading the lecture today?” she asked him excitedly.

Lance chuckled. “I am.” He enjoyed his talks with Allura, even if it had been a while since the last. He had gotten so busy with work and his own classes, he forgot to make time for his friends.

She clapped her hands. “This will be amazing.”

“You’re quite excited for this. I’ve lead recitation before.” Lance was almost done setting up all his material.

“Yes, but it’s always been Coran’s lectures. This is the first time it’s all you. I love what you have to say so I’m just excited to see what you’ve put together.” She smiled at him, a warm smile full of admiration.

“You best take a seat then, Allura. I’m starting soon.” Lance gave her a smile as she turned and headed to take a seat.

“Okay, has everyone caught up with the reading?” Lance asked the class. There were a few nods from the students. “Good. Today we’ll be discussing the essay topics for the essay due in two weeks.”

A collective groan from the students filled the hall.

Lance continued to speak. “It’s not a bad as you all think. Four pages and eight in-text citations with analysis.” Lance began to speak about the prompts. He got through the first two prompts without questions or interruptions. During the explanation of the third prompt, a student from the back of the hall began to speak.

“Can’t you cut us some slack, Lance? The season just started,” a voice groaned.

Lance looked up at the speaker. “No one told you to play football and take this class at the same time, Chris.”

“You do realize he’s telling us what he’s looking for in our essays during these lectures?” Allura asked without looking at Chris. “All you need to do is pay attention and take notes.”

Lance nodded. “Exactly.”

“But, it would be easier for him to just write it for me.” Chris smirked at Lance who looked unamused. The relationship between the two was one-sided. Chris would always tease Lance and try to get him to loosen up, while most of what Chris would say, went over Lance’s head. His playful nature never seemed to amuse Lance and he did a good job of not giving into Chris’ ridiculous demands.

“There’s a thing on campus here called academic honesty. Plus I would like to keep this job and I have my own classes to focus on.” Lance went back to discussing the essay topics. For the most part, the students listened and took notes. Lance may have been a student along with the others, but he wasn’t lenient when it came to the work he assigned.

Lance stopped speaking once he covered all five prompts and turned to the class. “Any questions?”

A student raised her hand. “Are we only allowed to work with one prompt? Or can we work with two?”

“If you can find a way to answer two of them completely without sacrificing your essay, I don’t see why not. Just shoot me or Coran an e-mail if you have any further questions about it.” Lance looked around the class. He raised an eyebrow. “Chris.”

“Are you coming to the game on Friday?”

“No, I have other things to do,” he replied flatly.

“C’mon. You can spare two hours. You need to relax and have a little fun. A good game of football should help with that.”

“With you on the field, it’ll take more than two hours for the game to end.” Allura replied, rolling her eyes. “You just want him in a good mood while he grades the papers.”

Chris didn’t try to deny the accusations.

Lance tried not to encourage Allura with a smile, so he turned back to his laptop and closed the PowerPoint. “If that’s all, you’re free to go.”

As the students shuffled out, Allura made her way back to Lance.

“I know you aren’t one for parties, but I was wondering if you want to come to the one Shiro is throwing me for my birthday? It’s on Saturday at my place. I completely understand if you don’t want to, I’m just…putting it on there.” Her gaze was shifted downward around Lance’s chest since she couldn’t bring herself to look him in the eyes. She felt as though she was asking him for too much, even though it was just an invitation.

“Out, not on. And I’ll think about it.”

“Yes yes. Putting it _out_ there.” Allura gave him a warm smile. “I’ll see you later then.”

Lance nodded and Allura headed off. He packed up and thought about the party. Lance wasn’t one to socialize, especially at a party. But he felt bad that he almost forgot her birthday. If Allura hadn’t brought it up, he wouldn’t have remembered. He figured that showing up to the party would be a good enough gift for her.

Lance wasn’t one to be all warm and touchy-feely. He didn’t really understand why people enjoyed birthday’s so much. For him, it was another year of remembering his own birthday gift from his parents. He didn’t see the appeal of celebrating another year closer to knocking on death’s door, alone and isolated. He pushed the birthday thoughts out of his head, focusing on his next task at hand. Grabbing all of his stuff, Lance headed to the next lecture he needed to cover.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you guys think! You can find me at [@soltserra](https://soltserra.tumblr.com/).  
> 


	2. Act 2: His name is Keith

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So my lovely editor, Kay, suggested that I add off-screen moments at the end of each chapter/act (however you want to think about it). So starting this chapter/act, there will be off-screen moments~

* * *

_Scene 1_

* * *

A coffee was placed on the table, in front of Lance. It was his day off and he decided not to grade papers, but rather just sit and enjoy a book.

“Still have that nose in a book, I see,” a familiar voice said.

Lance looked up and placed the book down. “This one is for leisure. This I can put down.” He recalled the barista as the guy who stopped him from getting run over.

The barista raised an eyebrow. “It’s not like you could get hit by oncoming traffic in here.”

Lance slowly nodded. “Ah, yes. That’s true.”

The barista gave Lance one final smile and headed back to the register to take some orders. Lance watched him for another moment and went back to reading his book. He had been coming to this coffee shop since he started going to school here, but this was the first time he had noticed the barista. He never saw him in any of his classes, nor had he spoken to him before the whole walking into traffic incident.

It had been roughly thirty minutes since the crowd had died down and Lance’s coffee had cooled. It was peaceful, and Lance was enjoying every minute of it.

A tall guy with brown hair and eyes walked in and began shouting. His voice was warm and excited. “KEITH, ARE YOU HERE?”

Lance put his book down. He knew that voice. He turned around in his seat and saw his best friend, Hunk, running up to the register.

“Is Keith here?!” he asked the barista on the register.

The other barista nodded and headed to the back.

Hunk looked around the shop and spotted Lance. His face broke out into a grin as he sat himself down across from Lance.

"Bro, is it really you?" He asked with big eyes.

"Yes Hunk, it's really me." Lance cared deeply for Hunk but sometimes he was a bit much for the TA. But Lance was still extremely thankful that Hunk was in his life.

"I thought you might have been withering away at your house."

Lance rolled his eyes.

"Seriously, I haven't seen you for two weeks."

Lance looked up. "Has it really been that long?"

Hunk nodded.

Lance was speechless. He didn't think it had been that long since he had seen his friend last, but clearly time was getting away from him.

"Why did you come running in here screaming for Keith?"

Hunk raised his eyebrows. "You know Keith?"

Lance shook his head.

"I'll introduce you. We got entered in this huge competition for engineers and I wanted to tell him, but he's somewhere in the back."

As Hunk said that, Lance's eyes wandered to the back door behind the register and saw two boys emerge with a box between them. They carefully placed it on the ground and began to open it. He recognized one of the guys as the cashier Hunk was talking to and the other as the barista who gave Lance his coffee.

"KEITH." Hunk shouted, jolting Lance back to their conversation.

The long haired barista looked up startled. He walked over confused.

"Hey Hunk."

"You won't believe what Alfor did!"

"Did he say no to the project for the final?"

"Quite the opposite actually. He entered us in the national engineering competition. The one where the winners get a grant to further develop their entry and get to work with different companies who can help further their entry."

Lance finally had a name to put with the face. Keith.

Keith’s eyes widened. “Seriously?!”

“Yeah dude! If we win this thing, you could finally have that arm working!” Hunk jumped out of his seat when Keith had walked over and now was holding onto Keith’s shoulders, shaking him. Lance looked between the two as they shared an excited look.

“I need to start working on the proper design and the system we’ll use. God, there’s so much research that needs to be done now. I was planning on half-assing this to just turn something in to Alfor, but now, I’m actually excited.” Lance noticed a spark in Keith’s eyes that was not there before.

Hunk glanced over at Lance, who was staring between the two. “Oh, this is Lance. My best friend. Lance, this is Keith, one of my partners for my engineering final.”

Lance pondered over that statement. “Nice it officially meet you, Keith.”

Keith gave him another smile. “Likewise.”

“I do have a question. The semester just started so why are you working on a final?” Lance had known Hunk for a while now and knew he wasn’t one to procrastinate, but never has he been _this_ on top of his work.

Hunk chuckled. “Alfor likes to assign a semester long, group project as the final. He has checkpoints set up throughout the semester to make sure we’re actually going the work he expects of us. I got partnered up with Keith here, and he already had his mind set on something, so that’s what we’re working on.”

Lance nodded slowly.

Hunk turned back to Keith. “Are you going to Allura’s party?”

Keith grimaced. “I was threatened. I have to go.”

Lance couldn’t help but wonder what Keith meant. He didn’t ask, but he was curious as to why Keith would be threatened to go to the same party Allura wanted him to attend. This led to the question of how Keith and Allura knew each other. Allura had never mentioned him before, Lance would have remembered if she did. He had a sharp memory and didn’t recall her speaking of a ‘Keith’.

“I shouldn’t have expected otherwise.”

“Anyways, I need to get back to work. I’ll talk to Pidge and start working on it tonight.”

“Alright man, I’ll see you later.” Keith headed back behind the counter and began to wash some dishes. Hunk turned back to Lance.

“I probably already know your answer, but are you coming to the party?”

Lance shrugged as he picked his book back up.

“Bro, you know you need to get out more. You forgot it was her birthday so why don’t you just show up and hang out for a little bit?” Hunk was concerned about the lack of human interaction Lance had in his life, and after getting his TA job, he stayed cooped up in his house even more.

Lance sighed. “How do you know if I forgot her birthday or not?”

“I know you. You can remember due date and deadlines, but simple things like birthdays and days when things are planned easily slip your mind. You may be a genius, but you can forget small things easily.”

Lance fought the urge to roll his eyes. “Sunday is grading day. I need to be up bright and early if I want to get it done in time to give students their work back.”

“Sounds like an excuse to me.”

“You know I don’t do parties. They aren’t my cup of tea.” Lance shrugged.

“I’m just saying. I haven’t seen you for a couple weeks and it’s been less than a month since the semester started. Allura only sees you weekly because you’re her TA. I just think it would be good for you to get out for once and relax a little.”

“I’m okay, Hunk. Thank you for your concern, but I don’t need to go to a party to relax.”

Hunk shook his head. “Whatever. I’ll see you later then.” He got up and walked out without waiting for a reply from Lance. He knew it would take a lot more than a few words to get Lance to take action on his words. Lance continued to read his book, unaffected by Hunk’s words.

Keith found himself watching the TA closely several times during his shift. Lance looked a lot more at peace than the first time he saw him. Sure Keith hadn’t seen him that much, but his expression just seemed more relaxed compared to when he was rushing off to class. Keith noticed him stirring his coffee with a vacant look in his eyes. With how long it had been sitting there, Keith was sure it was cold at this point. He gathered his stuff after taking off his apron and hanging it.

“I’ll see you later, Brian.”

His coworker looked up and saw the to-go cup in his hand. He smirked. “Later, Keithy.”

Keith rolled his eyes and stopped by Lance’s table on the way out. He placed the new cup on the table and left for his apartment wordlessly.

Several minutes later, Lance looked up to check the time, but was surprised by the new cup on his table. He looked around to see if there was anyone who might have placed it on the table for a moment. He picked up the cup and found a message written on it.

_Thought you might need a fresh cup._

Lance took a sip and cracked the smallest smile.

* * *

_Scene II_

* * *

Keith walked into the apartment and was hit with the aroma of food. He put his stuff down on a chair at the dinner table and walked into the kitchen.

“Smells good in here,” he said, peering over his roommate’s shoulder to see what was on the stove. He reached over to dip his finger in the salsa that was lying in a bowl to the side. His roommate slapped his hand away.

“Ow, Pidge. No need to actually hit me. Just say don’t touch.” Keith rubbed the back of his hand.

“If I say don’t touch, you wouldn’t listen to me. Therefore, the only way to get you to do as I want you to do, I must resort to slapping.” They flipped over a quesadilla and turned to Keith. “I don’t need your dirty hands rummaging through the salsa and giving me some disease.”

Keith ruffled their hair and went to his room to change. “Did Hunk talk to you?” he shouted from his room.

“No, why?”

Keith didn’t reply as he pulled his shirt over his head and walked back into the kitchen. He hopped up onto the counter and crossed his legs. “Alfor entered us in the competition you were reading about.”

“What? With your idea?” Pidge placed a new quesadilla on the pan.

“Yup.”

“That’s awesome! If we get this right, you’ll be able to create the arm for Shiro that you’ve always wanted to give him.” Pidge beamed up at him.

Keith smiled. “I know. I’m excited to see how much progress I can make after all these years of planning. He deserves this.”

Pidge placed the last quesadilla on a plate and turned off the stove. “You are not gonna go all ‘this is my fault’ on me. You did what you thought was right and if Shiro doesn’t understand that, he’s a crappy brother.”

“He’s not a crappy brother and you know it.” Keith grabbed two plates and glasses and helped set the table.

Pidge hummed. “Is that why he’s always giving you shit for paying the bills and taking care of him when he couldn’t?”

“It’s…complicated.”

Pidge raised an eyebrow. “Sure…I know all about it. Not as complicated as you think.”

Keith ignored Pidge as he continued to bring the food to the table. Once they sat down and began eating, Keith spoke again. “Are you going to Allura’s party?”

“Shiro threatened you?”

“Yeah…”

“Same. I’m going too, but only because he has dirt on me that I don’t need getting out.”

The food in Keith’s hands fell back down on his plate. “What does Shiro have on you that I don’t?!”

Pidge shivered. “I don’t even know how he managed to get that.”

Keith kept pestering Pidge about the blackmail Shiro had against them, but made no progress. He made a mental note to ask Shiro about it himself. After dinner and cleaning up, they both sat in the living room, discussing possible programs and mechanisms that could be used to build the arm Keith had wanted to make.

* * *

“And, CUT!” The director’s voice snapped everyone on set back to reality.

Keith stood up and stretched.

“I’m so glad the last scene of the day involved food. I was starvingggg,” Pidge said from behind Keith.

“Speak for yourself. I can’t believe you two ate _all_ of it.” Hunk pouted as he took a bite of his apple. “I’ve had fruit all day and I hate it.”

Keith laughed. “We’ll save some for you next time.”

Lance walked onto set. “Okay, but next scene, you need to make sure my makeup is on point. I can’t stop filming again because you didn’t conceal properly.” He was nagging the makeup artist, which wasn’t a new thing at this point. He had both his hands on his hips and leaned forward a little to better match the height of the makeup artist.

Keith rolled his eyes. “If I have to hear him complain about his makeup tomorrow in between scenes, I’ll give him something he’ll need concealed properly.”

“You can’t punch him!” Hunk shouted.

Lance looked over after Hunk’s outburst. “As if he could punch me. He would be too upset about ruining my beautiful face if he did.” Lance gestured to his face with his eyes closed.

Keith raised an eye brow. “Wanna bet?”

Lance’s smile wavered. “Not risking it. Anyways, I’m going out for dinner. Hunk, since we haven’t eaten anything, want to join?”

Hunk grinned. “You bet. Bye guys!”

“I just want to go one day without you two flirting,” Pidge said shaking their head.

Keith was confused. “What part of my punching Lance in the face was flirting?” Pidge simply walked away as Keith followed them, asking the same question over and over again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you guys think! You can find me at [@soltserra](https://soltserra.tumblr.com/).  
> 


	3. Act 3: What's the point of drinking?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long, but HERE'S THE UPDATE! My beta has been really busy, but I'll try to get the next chapter up sooner (:

* * *

_Scene I_

* * *

 

“Hunk, let go of my arm.”

“Nope.”

“I can walk on my own.”

“If I let go, you’ll just turn around and go back to your home.”

Lance sighed. Hunk was right. If Hunk let go, Lance would just turn and run for the hills. He didn’t want to go to the party, but Hunk was easily overpowering him.

“Lance, you can be the best professor out there and even the most amazing novelist, but do you really want to lose the little friends you already have? Even if you don’t want to meet new people and make new friends, you can’t just keep pushing us away. You need this night, even if it’s just for an hour.”

Again, Hunk was right. Lance had become so adept at pushing other away that he didn’t even realize he was doing it. He stopped fighting Hunk and allowed him to be pulled to Allura’s apartment. He wanted to see everyone, but at the same time, he didn’t. Lance felt bad for always dropping off the earth, but he had so little time for himself already. His time was dedicated to studying and his job, but it wasn’t by choice.

“Even if you went back home at this point, all you would do is hang out with Blue. You have turned into a boring cat lady. You need help.”

“I am not a cat lady. I just spend a lot of time at home and have Blue to keep me company,” Lance replied a-matter-o-factly.

Hunk snorted. “Uh-huh. Okay. Cat lady.”

“At least get the gender right if you’re going to keep calling me that.” Lance thought about it. As long as he didn’t drink much and left the party at a reasonable time, he should good to grade the next day. “Fine. I’ll stay at this party, but only because I don’t want to be lectured by you again.”

They reached the apartment and Hunk let go of Lance. Lance opened the door to the apartment and was blasted with a wall of sound. He could already feel the heat radiating off the people inside telling Lance that there are too many people for Lance’s liking. It was dim and hard to see, but he could tell that there weren’t many people he recognized. There were a few of his students and he saw Shiro making his way through the room.

“On second thought, nope.” Lance turned around.

“Nope, you’re going in.”

“Huuuuunk,” Lance whined.

He turned Lance around and pointed. “Look, there’s Allura.” He pushed Lance in her direction.

Lance stumbled in. The heat increased, the smell of sweat hitting him hard. Lance slowly made his way to Allura, careful to avoid touching anyone or letting them pull him into dancing. He tapped Allura’s shoulder to get her attention. “Hi.”

Allura turned around and broke out into a grin.

“Uh, happy birthday?”

Allura pulled Lance in for a hug. He gave her a squeeze back.

“I actually wasn’t expecting to see you at all. Thank you for coming.” She pulled away and Lance could see how happy she was.

“Thank Hunk.”

“I really mean it. Thank you.” Lance smiled at Allura. It was the same smile he normally gave people. A smile he had learned to form whenever he needed to look happy. “You’re free to do whatever you want. Food and drinks are in the kitchen, dancing in the living room. Just let me know when you leave.”

“Yeah. Okay, thanks.” Lance left to wander off to the kitchen. He recognized a few people talking in small groups, one of them being Keith. Keith hadn’t notice him as he grabbed a drink and stood off in a corner, awkwardly watching as people talked and danced. He felt uncomfortable as he stood there, wanting to go home. He knew he couldn’t leave after five minutes of showing up, especially when he saw Allura as happy as she was when she saw him.

Keith looked around and saw Lance standing by himself. He excused himself from the group and joined Lance in his corner. “Lance, right?”

Lance looked at him, a little startled from the sudden appearance. “Uh yeah…Keith?”

“Yup. Parties not your thing?” He took a sip from his cup and glanced around real quick.

“Not really. I’m usually at home with my cat on the weekends.” Lance winced after he said that out loud. “Crap. Cat lady came out again…”

Keith chuckled. “It’s fine.”

Lance gave him a small smile to try to smooth out the awkwardness. He took a sip of his drink and let his eyes wander around.

“Tell me about your cat,” Keith said, hoping this would help strike up a conversation.

Lance looked at Keith, a little surprised. “Well, Blue is my first actual pet. I’m surprised he’s still alive considering how much time I spend away from my place during the week. But I suppose that’s my fault for being the TA for two professors who both have three courses each.” Lance let his words peter out as he realized he was rambling.

“Well, if you ever need someone to watch him, I can do it. I like cats, so I wouldn’t mind.”

“He seems to be doing fine on his own. He’s half out-door cat, so I leave the cat door open for him and he’s good. Thankfully no mice have ever ended up on my doorstep. I hope it stays that way, but I’m not worried about it.”

Keith laughed. Lance felt a little more comfortable and let out a half-heart chuckle himself. “So, what are you studying?”

“Bio-engineering,” Keith replied in a heartbeat. “I’m guessing that you’re an English lit major with Allura?”

Lance nodded. “We both are aiming to be published eventually.”

“I’ve heard her ideas. Kudos to you both. Maybe students will be dissecting your works one day.” Keith finished his drink.

Lance mustered up the best fake smile he could. “That’s that hope.” Lance finished the last of his drink as well.

“Well, I’ll be cheering for you too.”

Both their attentions were pulled away when someone came up and started to pull Keith away. “Cross country needs you, Keith!”

“Sorry, Lance!” Keith shouted over his shoulder.

Lance looked at him confused. “Uh, bye?” He didn’t follow the two boys though. He chose to remain in his corner and stay away from the big crowd of people.

Pidge walked by and glanced at Lance. They walked backwards and stopped in front of Lance. Lance stared at them, unsure of what to say or do. They reached over and pinched Lance.

“Ow! What the fuck, Pidge!?” Lance rubbed his arm and glared at them.

“Oh my god, it really is you…” Pidge stared as Lance in shock.

“Yes it is me, Lance, hi, nice to see you too. I’m doing well, thanks for asking,” Lance said with a monotone voice.

“Shut up and hug me.” Pidge opened their arms and Lance complied with their wishes. “I thought you died under a pile of books.”

Lance pulled away. “No, but it’s my preferred way to go, compared to a party where I know like…five people.”

Pidge smirked. “Oh ho, five people? Enlighten me.”

Lance rolled his eyes and sighed. “You, Shiro, Allura, Hunk, and Keith. Keith is new. I met him just the other day.”

“How the hell did you two even meet? You’re on the opposite side of the spectrum.” Pidge was dumbfounded. They couldn’t understand how Lance and Keith could even meet, let alone try to be friends.

“Hunk. And happenstance, he may have saved me from being flattened by traffic.” Lance spoke with an indifferent tone. He didn’t see what the big deal about knowing Keith was.

“Knowing you, you probably said thanks and brushed him off.”

“That’s exactly what I did, and he closed my book on me. Twice! I’m telling you, the Count of Monte Cristo isn’t an easy book to flip through, Pidge.” Lance was annoyed thinking about it.

Pidge sighed. “Be thankful is wasn’t someone else or they might have tossed the book altogether.”

Lance crossed his arms and leaned against the wall. “I carry a spare just in case. I could be reading right now, but no, Hunk dragged me here. Quite literally.”

Pidge didn’t say anything for a moment. They watched Lance as he looked at the people dancing with a pout and wondered what could have caused this boy to be the most anti-social person they knew.

“Let’s go.”

“What?”

Pidge grabbed Lance’s hand and pulled him through the crowd to where Allura and Keith were. They were standing across from each other with a small table between them. They both took a shot and slammed the glass down on the table.

“Pidge, this is ridiculous. You know I don’t drink like this.” Lance looked down at Pidge who was watching the drink-off intently. “Pidge.”

“I know, and you can’t. This is for sports teams only.” The let go of Lance’s hand and continued to watch.

“Then why drag me over here?” Lance crossed his arms again.

“To show you what you always miss out on when you choose to stay home instead of hanging out with your friends.”

“I don’t see how I’m missing anything considering they’re going to have hangovers tomorrow,” Lance stated. He turned around and saw the door. It would be so easy for him to leave, if he could just get Pidge to stop paying attention to him.

Allura realized Lance had been standing next to her and turned to him with a smile. “Leaving already, Lance?”

“No, I brought him to watch the show.”

“And what a show it is,” he said with all the sarcasm he could.

Pidge ignored him and watched as two new glasses had been placed in front of Keith and Allura. “C’MON KEITH, DRINK HER UNDER THE TABLE!”

Lance looked at Pidge, not being able to hide the shock on his face. He couldn’t imagine how such violence could come from such a small body.

Pidge looked at Lance. “What?”

“Nothing…” Lance looked back at the table and tried to ignore what just happened.

Pidge turned back and watched as the two competitors took another shot. This went on for at least two more round before Shiro walked up.

“Okay, I’m cutting you off.” He took the shot glasses out of both Keith and Allura’s hands as people around booed him.

“Finally, someone with some sense,” Lance muttered.

Pidge turned to Lance. “Look, just because you don’t get it, doesn’t mean you have to be so negative. You seriously need to relax and enjoy yourself once in a while.”

“I do, I just don’t need to get drunk to be relaxed,” Lance clapped back.

Pidge narrowed their eyes. “What is your deal?”

“It’s a stupid game. All it does is get you drunk and makes you do thing you’ll regret when you’re sober. Like one, the hangover. Two, you might get a black out. Three, alcohol poisoning. The list can go on infinitely.” Lance shrugged.

Allura looked at Lance and back down at the table. “Don’t force him to be here if he doesn’t want to. Lance never liked these things, so what makes you think he’ll change now?”

“Wishful thinking,” Pidge replied, glaring at Lance. Lance didn’t seem to understand why Pidge looked so mad, but he didn’t question it.

“Just go if you aren’t feeling it,” Allura said, a bit quieter.

“Sorry to be a downer, Allura, but it was great to see you. Happy birthday again.”

Allura’s head dropped lower. “Yeah…thanks.”

Lance turned on his heel and made a b-line towards the door. He couldn’t have left any faster. Once he closed the door and began to walk on the main road, he felt a sense of peacefulness surround him. That could have been due to the fact that he couldn’t really hear anything properly, but he began to feel better. He took his time as he walked to enjoy the night air and the quietness that followed him around on his way home.

* * *

 

Everyone was realizing after their last scene. Filming went on until the wee hours of the morning and everyone tried their best to pull through without as little retakes as possible. Once the day (day and a half) had been wrapped up, everyone went to their room to unwind and/or grab their stuff and went home.

“I have to admit,” Keith said, leaning against the doorframe of Lance’s dressing room. “You are a pretty good actor.”

Hunk spit out his water and started coughing.

Lance waved away the makeup artist and turned to look at Keith. “Am I dreaming? Or did Keith actually just compliment me?”

“No, I heard it too,” Hunk said, a little shocked.

Keith smirked. “I almost believed you for a minute. The whole ‘drinking is awful’ thing. But then I remember the casting party, and how you got completely trashed. And then I was snapped back to reality.”

Lance closed his mouth and narrowed his eyes. “I hate you.”

Keith blew him a kiss as he moved backwards to avoid the water bottle flying at him. Hunk was laughing, as were the makeup artists.

“I seriously hate him. How are we supposed to do this movie if he’s insufferable?” Lance pouted.

“I think you two will be able to work just fine together.” Hunk grinned at his confused friend. “Don’t worry about it. Just learn your lines and do what you do best.”

Lance sighed. “You’re right. I shouldn’t let him get to me like this.” Lance picked up his script and began running lines with Hunk once again as the makeup artists did their job.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you guys think! You can find me at [@soltserra](https://soltserra.tumblr.com/).  
> 


	4. Act 4: I can't socialize

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a quick note, please bare with Lance's character. Just wanted to mention this after my beta told me she wanted to slap him multiple times ^^;

* * *

_Scene I_

* * *

 

Keith saw Lance sitting at what was now known as his table. He never realized that Lance was a regular where he worked until he actually met him, and now, he would give anything to not notice that Lance sits at the same table every Sunday, typing away on his laptop or grading papers.

When he was on register, it was Keith’s job to give people their drinks if they ordered ‘for here’, and in this moment, Keith’s coworker, Brian, was pushing him to give Lance his coffee.

Keith wordlessly placed Lance’s coffee on the table. Lance didn’t look up from his screen while he muttered a quick thanks. Keith gave him a small smile, which Lance never saw, before heading back behind the counter. He worked quietly today, trying not to attract too much attention.

“God dammit…” Lance said to himself as he deleted an entire page of work.

Keith glanced over as he started to restock some of the food items in front, but didn’t pay him anymore attention. He heard Lance angrily typing away on his keyboard.

Keith sighed and went back to the register when he saw some customers walk in. He smiled as he greeted them and took their orders. Lance cursed some more, which was muffled by his hands clasped together in front of his mouth, and Keith did his best not to look over. He headed into the back to see if there was anything else that needed to be restocked in order to get away from the ball of frustration sitting outside. Keith was used to personally helping everyone, but when it came to Lance, he was doing his best to steer clear to avoid any more awkward situations. He tried to be nice at the party, but clearly, Lance preferred the confines of his own home rather than being out with others. Keith didn’t judge, he just wished it was a little easier for him to get to know Lance.

“Keith, what are you doing?” Brian asked causing Keith to jump a little. He leaned against the doorway with his arms crossed over his chest and an amused grin on his face.

“Uhh, working…?”

Brian stared at Keith blankly. It was just Keith’s luck that Brian knew him real well. “You’re avoiding someone. Who is it?”

Keith went back to surveying the store room shelves. “What makes you think I’m avoiding someone?”

“Keith…” Brian did his best to play along with Keith without rolling his eyes. “You never go in the back unless you have to.”

“Maybe I have to.”

“For what? Everything is stocked.”

Keith didn’t reply has he avoided looking in Brian’s direction. He mentally assessed the shop. “NAPKINS. WE NEED NAPKINS.”

Brian stared at Keith for a few moments, processing what he just said. “No we don’t?”

Keith didn’t reply as he grabbed a packet of napkins.

“So which one is it? One of those two girls who are talking a bit too loud? That guy studying in the corner? The girl who’s been procrastinating on –“

Keith walked passed Brian and began to refill a napkin dispenser that didn’t need to be refilled just yet. Brian closed his eyes and sighed. As Keith walked back to the register, he saw Lance staring at his screen with a hand in his hair and his eyes narrowed as he read something. Keith looked away to help more customers who had just walked in. Once he got all their orders, Keith helped Brian make the drinks.

“You’re gonna tell me,” Brian said as he capped a drink.

“Nope,” Keith replied, popping the ‘p’.

Brian handed someone their drink and looked around again. “Sooo, is it the cutie looking like he’s gonna toss his computer through the window in the next five minutes?”

Keith stiffened, but continued to make the drink. “Whatno.”

“It is.” Brian smirked.

Keith shook his head.

“Keith, you can’t hide anything from me. You’re terrible at poker.” Brian grabbed the drink Keith finished and handed it to the customer with a smile. “Have a nice day.”

Keith didn’t speak. Brian had known him since he started working here about three years ago, and he soon learned that it was hard to hide things from a psychology major.

“Nope, not him,” Keith said without looking at Brian.

“Sure…” Brian turned to look at Lance. “I mean, you have good taste, he’s cute, but he seems…” Brian watched him as he groaned as he deleted something. “Cold.”

Keith turned around and leaned against the back counter. His arms were crossed and he looked slightly annoyed. “He went to Allura’s party, stood in the corner for a majority of the time he was there, began to criticize drinking right after a drinking game, and then left.”

Brian slowly nodded. “But you like him?”

“No. He’s just an acquaintance.”

“Uh huh. Doesn’t mean you can’t like him. Does he have friends at least?” Brian continued to watch Lance as he angrily typed and deleted, hoisting himself up on the counter.

“I’m not sure.”

“He seemed to know Hunk,” Brian pointed out.

“Hunk said he was his best friend. Seemed to know Pidge too. Obviously knows Allura.”

Brian raised his eyebrows. “That’s interesting.”

“What?”

Brian shrugged. “Hunk is like the bubbliest guy I know, Pidge is hard to get to know period, and Allura is another socialite. He,” Brian jabbed a thumb in Lance’s direction, “looks like a shut in.”

Keith held his hands up in defeat. “Look, if you want to pry, be my guest. The last time I talked to him, it was mostly about majors and careers. I tried.”

“Well, why don’t you give him another coffee and talk to him now? He hasn’t touched that cup for a while now and I’m almost one hundred percent sure it’s cold now.”

“Why would I do that?” Keith asked as if it was the most ridiculous idea in the world.

“Because you did that last time you were working and he was here.” Brian smirked.

Keith looked away and pouted a little. “I was trying to be nice and he didn’t seem like he was going to bite my head off for it.”

Brian pushed himself off the counter to make Lance’s usual order. “Maybe he needs a break, and actually converse with a human today. We _are_ slow. So why don’t you give him this coffee?”

Keith sighed. “I can’t just place a coffee on the table and plop down in front of him.”

Brian handed Keith the coffee. “Sure you can. Happens all the time in books and movies.”

Keith rolled his eyes. “This is real life.”

Brian grinned. “And you can make it a fantasy. It’ll woo his socks off.”

Keith looked up at Brian with horror written on his face. “What no! I’ll be fired.”

“No you won’t.”

Keith crossed his arms. “Boss will see me sitting with a customer during my shift.”

“Boss isn’t here.” Brian was ready to counter all of Keith’s flimsy excuses.

“Security cameras.”

“You really think he actually watches those?”

“Yes.”

Brian turned Keith around and they both looked at Lance who now had his face pressed firmly against the table. Keith sighed and made his way to Lance’s table with a new cup of coffee in his hands. He placed it down on the table, choosing to stand rather than sit down across from him.

“How you…uh…doing?”

Lance sat up quickly. “Oh, hi.”

Keith gave him a small smile, mostly to show him that he was trying to be friendly. He cast his gaze downward to break the eye contact with Lance.

“Um, thanks for the coffee…” He glanced around at the people in the coffee shop and saw a few of them staring at him. “I’m not causing a scene, am I? I’ll leave if I am.”

“I don’t think the,” Keith looked around too, “five other people in here mind.”

“Oh, okay good. I know I can get a bit…intense when I’m writing. Sorry for the annoyance.” Lance gave Keith a smile which looked kind of painful for Lance.

“It’s not a problem.” Keith turned around to face Brian and mouthed the word ‘help’. Brian smiled and gave him two thumbs up.

Lance began to type again. “How have you been though? Keeping busy?”

Keith focused his attention on Lance again. “Uh, yeah. I guess. The project is getting more involved, I have work, and there are some meets coming up.”

“Meets? Are you on a sports team?” Lance asked without looking up.

“Yeah, cross country.”

Lance nodded once. “Nice. Great way to stay in shape.”

“Yup… Staying in shape…” Keith turned back to Brian who wasn’t paying attention anymore.

Lance absentmindedly kept talking. “What do you want to do with a bioengineering degree?” He honestly wasn’t paying attention to Keith. He only kept talking to humor Keith. He took a sip of the coffee.

“You look busy…” Keith backed away and went back to the register, kicking Brian off.

“Wait, sit.” Lance looked up and saw Keith working again with a smile that was faltering a little bit. “Dammit.” He pulled out his phone to message Hunk.

 **Lance:** I suck at socializing  
**Hunk:** I mean…not the words I would use  
**Lance:** But it’s the truth though  
**Lance:** I just tried to have a conversation with Keith and I’m pretty sure I scared him off  
**Hunk:** Knowing you  
**Hunk:** Yeah, probably  
**Lance:** Fuck  
**Lance:** That doesn’t help me at all Hunk  
**Hunk:** Here’s a tip when you’re conversing. You stop what you’re doing and actually pay attention to them  
**Lance:** …  
**Lance:** You’re right  
**Hunk:** What were you doing?  
**Lance:** I was writing  
**Hunk:** Bro, he was probably trying to help you take a break  
**Hunk:** Did you look ready to murder someone?  
**Lance:** Well it’s too late now  
**Lance:** I’m not sure what that expression would look like on my face.

 **Hunk:** _Attachment sent_

 **Lance:** _Attachment received_

 **Lance:** Hunk. A facepalming gif doesn’t help.  
**Hunk:** You listen to him  
**Hunk:** Try to actually have a conversation  
**Hunk:** But first, you apologize and explain  
**Lance:** How do I do that?  
**Lance:** He ran away  
**Hunk:** Well, no shit  
**Lance:** Hunk  
**Hunk:** Say something before you leave  
**Hunk:** Or buy a new coffee  
**Lance:** He brought me one already  
**Lance:** I’ve had two  
**Lance:** Why would I need another?  
**Hunk:** LanCE oh mYGOD  
**Hunk:** JUST BUY SOMETHING  
**Hunk:** AND WHEN YOU SEE KEITH, YOU APOLOGIZE  
**Lance:** But that seem like a waste of money. Hunk, that doesn’t make sense. Why would I buy something to apologize?  
**Hunk:** Fucking hell Lance, why are you so bad at this?  
**Hunk:** First you hurt Allura, now this with Keith?  
**Hunk:** Dude  
**Lance:** Wait  
**Lance:** How did I hurt Allura?  
**Hunk:** If you wanna become a novelist, you NEED to work on your people skills  
**Lance:** I didn’t say anything wrong, in fact, I haven’t seen her  
**Hunk:** Because she’s hurt  
**Lance:** What did I do?  
**Hunk:** She wanted to spend time with you and invited you to the party. I pushed you to go because she had no hope that you would show up. And then you sulk in the corner and say that drinking is stupid and shit and walked out. She spent most of the night sitting on the couch after that. And this was the first time she had seen you out of class in month. You worked all summer, you never spent time with us. And this is how you act  
**Lance:** Oh…  
**Lance:** Well…now I know why she’s been avoiding me  
**Hunk:** Stop messing up relationships. Your future isn’t going anywhere, but what fun will it be if you have no friends to share it with?  
**Lance:** It’s not like I’m trying to mess them up!  
**Lance:** I’m just not good around people.

Lance shut down his laptop after saving his work and put away some notebooks. When he was done packing up, he grabbed his bag and laptop stowed in its case.

 **Hunk:** You’ve know her for how long now? She hasn’t given up on you but she’s beginning to lose heart  
**Lance:** I know but like…I don’t get it. People don’t make sense Hunk

Lance walked up to the counter. Brian was on the register and Keith was nowhere to be seen. “Um, tell Keith I said thanks for the coffee.”

“I would, but he left a while ago. Sorry,” Brian said with a sorry smile. He definitely could say with confidence that Lance was a cold person.

“Oh, thanks anyways.” Lance walked out with his stuff in tow. He looked down at his phone when it vibrated again.

 **Hunk:** Stop looking at people as puzzles that need to be solved

Lance scowled at the message.

 **Hunk:** I just…don’t know what to do with you  
**Lance:** I don’t know what to do with me either. Like I said, I suck at socializing.

Back at the shop, Keith walked out from the store room. “Thanks Brian…”

“Well, your shift is over, and he looked downright sad. So maybe, I don’t know, do the romantic thing and catch up to him?”

Keith took off his apron and grabbed his bag. “Stop turning this into your personal drama.”

“Hey man, he looked absolutely depressed. I wouldn’t want that walking out of here either.”

Keith groaned and headed out. He wasn’t sure what could have depressed Lance to the point where Brian was vouching for him, but he didn’t think it would be a bad idea to check on him if he was still around.

 **Hunk:** Maybe you need to start being more optimistic?  
**Lance:** I’m a realist Hunk. Not a pessimist  
**Hunk:** Well stop  
**Hunk:** Have a little fun once in a while  
**Hunk:** Let loose  
**Lance:** It’s a perfectly fine view on life Hunk. And I don’t know how to let loose. You’ve been my friend for how many years now? When have you seen me let loose?  
**Hunk:** EXACTLY

Keith ran over and grabbed the back of Lance’s shirt. Lance let out a yelp when he was suddenly pulled backwards. If Keith wasn’t a little annoyed and hurt, he would have found that adorable.

“Dude, you need to stop…”

Lance put his phone in his pocket and looked up. There was fast traffic going by and he was two step away from being the biggest roadkill on campus.

Lance turned around when the grip on his shirt was released. Lance was about to yell at whoever it was that just wrinkled the back of his shirt, but quickly abandoned the idea. “Keith?”

“Yeah?”

“I thought you went home? Like a while ago.”

“I have class soon…” He did his best to keep his voice indifferent. Keith was used to meeting many different types of people, but he hadn’t met someone like Lance. Quiet, cold, moody. He wasn’t quite sure what he saw in him, nor how to keep a conversation going without feeling like everything he was saying was going in one of Lance’s ears and out the other.

“Oh, well, I should apologize for my inattentiveness while you were trying to talk with me earlier. I was rude. I’m sorry.” His voice was monotone, but it was how Lance normally spoke.

Keith didn’t feel like he actually meant that. “You were busy. Just pay attention where you’re walking.”

Lance shook his head. “I know I have a bad habit of zoning in on something and I was rude. It happens all the time. It’s why I don’t have many friends. And it’s not that I’m not trying, but it’s very hard to socialize and I don’t understand it. It’s why I don’t get out. I’m…just, I’m sorry, I’m trying to break that habit. Thanks again for stopping my death again.” Lance turned and crossed the road while the signal was still there. He didn’t wait for Keith’s and he honestly didn’t want the conversation to keep going. Keith was looking at him with such sad eyes, and Lance didn’t need someone else pitying him.

Keith watched as he walked away. “Yeah…” He turned and headed to his class, moving quietly and keeping to himself.

Lance pulled out his phone again once he had crossed the street. He messaged Hunk.

 **Lance:** I apologized to Keith but I don’t think it worked.  
**Hunk:** What did you say?  
**Lance:** Well he stopped me from walking into traffic (again) and I apologized and told him that I have a bad habit and trouble socializing.  
**Lance:** I explained it, without trying to make it sound like an excuse.  
**Hunk:** What did he say?  
**Lance:** He tried to brush off my apology. But then I insisted and apologized again. Then I walked off because I didn’t know what else to say.  
**Lance:** He looked pretty speechless though.  
**Hunk:** If Pidge ever found out how you just acted, they would have slapped you…  
**Lance:** Fuck  
**Lance:** Don’t tell them  
**Lance:** I like my face  
**Hunk:** Why did you walk away? You should’ve asked to meet up some other time. Or said something to assure him that you were genuinely sorry  
**Lance:** I don’t know!  
**Hunk:** For someone who wants to write for a living, you suck at this  
**Lance:** I felt awkward so I ran away. Like always.  
**Lance:** What does writing have to do with this?  
**Hunk:** YOU’RE AWFUL WITH WORDS  
**Lance:** I AM JUST FINE WITH WORDS. PEOPLE ARE THE PROBLEM  
**Hunk:** KEITH IS A GREAT FRIEND BUT YOU KEEP PUSHING HIM AWAY  
**Lance:** I’VE NEVER MET THE GUY BEFORE YOU INTRODUCED ME TO HIM PROPERLY  
**Lance:** He was a jerk when he saved me the first time. Closed my book and everything.  
**Hunk:** He was probably trying to stop you from killing yourself

Lance opened the door to his small house. It was one story with two bedrooms and a bathroom. The rent was cheap, it was close to campus, and there were only a few things he had to fix up when he first moved in.

 **Lance:** I really am bad at this  
**Hunk:** Look Lance, I can’t keep helping you with this stiff if you keep shutting people out…try being more…friendly, smile, nod, ENGAGE  
**Lance:** You think I can make money writing fanfiction?  
**Lance:** Because at this rate, I’m never going to get published

Lance collapsed onto his couch, face down. He didn’t feel like moving. He honestly wished Hunk was move sympathetic to his situation, but it was partly his fault why they had a rift between them. Hunk knew what kind of person Lance used to be, and he was trying so hard for that person to come back out. Lance didn’t want him to come back out though, he wanted to keep the person he used to be locked away, hidden from the world, because he didn’t know if he could handle being the person he used to be anymore. That person had dealt with too much pain and sorrow to come back. He molded Lance into who he was today and as amazing as the old Lance was, he didn’t even remember how to be his passed self.

* * *

_Scene II_

* * *

 

Keith walked into class and took his seat next to Hunk. Their physics professor had a reputation of coming to class late, so Keith wasn’t worried about showing up late. He didn’t say anything as he sat down and didn’t even have the heart to return Hunk’s warm smile.

 **Hunk:** Fuck, what did you do?! Keith isn’t even talking to me  
**Lance:** He said he had class  
**Hunk:** He’s in my class  
**Lance:** He didn’t tell me which class he was going to. I didn’t know.

Blue hopped on top of Lance’s back and sat there.

 **Hunk:** I don’t know what I’m going to do with you  
**Lance:** Give up. I’m a lost cause. Tell Keith I’m sorry and I’ll find a way to make it up to Allura. Somehow.

Hunk looked over at Keith. He wasn’t going to let Lance ruin his chance at friendship, especially with someone like Keith. It was so easy to become his friend, he literally was friends with everyone.

“Hey Keith,” Hunk said with a small smile.

“Hi.” He was taking out his notebook and was setting up. Keith had yet to look at Hunk and Hunk could tell he didn’t want to talk. The only time he had ever seen Keith sad or upset was after he got into a fight with Shiro. Sad Keith wasn’t something anyone except Pidge was used to seeing, and they still panicked whenever he was sad.

He waited for Keith to say something else.

After about five minutes of silence, Keith finally spoke. “I’m sorry, I don’t mean to be all quiet and rude. Just…rough time at work.”

“Do you want to talk about it?” He turned a little to show Keith that he was willing to listen unlike a certain brunet they knew.

“Lance came in to work and I tried to talk to him. He really wasn’t listening but he kept talking. I mean, I’m used to customers asking me questions and not really paying attention to me, but I’m not sure. I was trying to be nice. And then he started apologizing but it seemed so…emotionless.” Keith shook his head. “I just don’t think he wants to be friends.”

“Nonononono, he’s just –“

“Bad at socializing,” they both said together.

Hunk let out a nervous chuckle. “He’s just hard to get to know. But please don’t give up on him.”

“I don’t want to force him if he doesn’t want to be friends.”

Hunk sighed. “I just…he needs this more than he thinks. Could you give him another chance? You know I don’t ever ask you for anything.”

Which was true. Hunk rarely, almost never asked Keith for anything. “Okay, fine.”

 **Hunk:** I’m not apologizing for you  
**Hunk:** And you better  
**Lance:** I don’t have Keith’s number to apologize with.  
**Hunk:** Then find a way

Lance took a deep breath and messaged Allura next.

 **Lance:** Hey Allura, I was wondering if you would like to come over for dinner. I wanted to make it up to you because of how I acted at the party.

He waited for her response. He didn’t feel nervous per say, he just wanted to clear the air with her so he didn’t unnecessarily burden her.

 **Allura:** I’m kind of busy tonight, I don’t think I can come over  
**Lance:** Please? I really want to apologize. You can bring your work and I can help you with it.  
**Allura:** Okay…  
**Lance:** Great, I’ll see you around seven then  
**Allura:** Okay

One situation was starting to work out. Lance got up from the couch and started all the preparations for the dinner. Blue joined him, sitting on the counter, watching as Lance moved around the kitchen expertly. As he cooked, his phone lit up again. He sighed, expecting another message from Hunk, telling him to fix things with Keith, but once he saw the massage, he wished it was just Hunk.

 **Pidge:** LANCE FUCKING MCCLAIN PRAY THAT YOU NEVER SEE ME AGAIN  
**Lance:** Pidge, I’m sorry. I’m trying to fix this.  
**Pidge:** DON’T APOLOGIZE TO ME, APOLOGIZE TO MY ROOMMATE WHO LOOKS LIKE A PUPPY THAT’S BEEN KICKED  
**Lance:** I don’t have his number to apologize with, I already told Hunk this.  
**Pidge:** Damn Lance, I know you’re cold but this..?  
**Lance:** I’m having dinner with Allura tonight. If he wants to come over and discuss books, by all means, let him know.

 **Pidge** _Contact information delivered_

 **Lance** _Contact information received_

 **Pidge:** Keith’s number. Call him.

Lance sighed and called the number. It kept ringing and went to voicemail. Lance waited for the beep to leave a message. “Hey, it’s Lance. Pidge gave me your number. I’m calling to apologize again because it’s come to my attention that I was an ass and I really need to stop being like one…” Lance sighed and Blue meowed from behind him. “Blue hush. But what I’m trying to say is that I’m sorry, I want to make it up to you but I don’t know how because I suck at socializing…I’ve said that so many times today,” Lance muttered under his breath. “So just give me a call back if you want, or text me, it doesn’t matter, and maybe we can work something out. Thanks, bye.” Lance hung up and messaged Pidge.

 **Lance:** I called and he didn’t answer so I left a voicemail.

He placed his phone down and focused on cooking again.

Pidge looked at Keith who was studying at the dining table. He hadn’t spoken much to them and saw Keith’s phone on the table, faced down.

“Did Lance call you just now?”

Keith looked up a little confused. He turned over his phone and showed the missed call number to Pidge. “This him?”

Pidge nodded. “Listen to what he has to say.”

Keith placed his phone back down. “I’m busy.”

“Keith.”

“Pidge.”

Pidge let out a frustrated groan.

“I don’t need to deal with something like this right now. He doesn’t wanna talk to me, I get it. Stop forcing the guy to be my friend.”

“Just listen to the voicemail you idiot or so help me.”

Keith reluctantly picked up his phone and listened to voicemail. He rubbed his face and put his phone faced down on the table after the voicemail ended. “There.”

“And?” Pidge was ready to jump over the counter and crawl to Keith in hopes that Lance finally got something right.

“And?”

“Did he try to seem sorry?”

“No.” At this point, Keith was tired and little annoyed. “When someone says ‘it has come to my attention blah blah blah’ they aren’t sorry, they’re just trying to get it over with. He’s bad at socializing, he doesn’t want to do this.” Keith closed his textbook, unable to concentrate on studying anymore. “I’m going to bed.”

“Dammit Lance,” Pidge muttered under their breath. They looked up as Keith walked to his room. “Night.”

Keith didn’t reply to Pidge and closed his room door. He placed his textbook on his desk in his room and collapsed on his bed, tired from the events of the day.

* * *

_Scene III_

* * *

 

Allura nervously knocked on the door. Lance walked over and opened the door with a smile.

“Come in.” He stepped out of the way. “I hope you don’t mind chicken alfredo, it’s all I really had the ingredients for.”

Allura walked in and smiled as best as she could. “That’s fine.”

Lance closed the door and headed back to the kitchen to finish up. Allura took a seat at the dining table. She looked at her hands as she waited for Lance to finish.

“I really am sorry…” he began as she stirred the sauce. “I didn’t mean to make you upset on your birthday.”

“It’s fine, no one should have forced you,” she replied quietly.

“It’s not my intention to be mean or an ass, I just come off that way because I don’t know what else to say.”

Allura looked over at Lance whose back was towards her. “I know.”

“It’s not really fine if it keeps making people upset. Hunk is pretty much done with me. Pidge wants to kill me I’m certain, and you’re here only because you’re too nice to really tell me to fuck off. Plus I’ve ruined any chance of being friends with Keith, but that never got off the ground anyways.” Lance moved to cut the already cooked chicken. “I’m losing everyone because they’re tired of me being incompetent.” Lance got two plates ready and brought them over to the table. He headed back for silverware and water.

Allura was busy trying to form the right words. “Well…we just…you need to…” She sighed. “You need to stop being so…you. We love you Lance but you need to stop seeing the world so black and white. There’s so much more you can learn and experience if you weren’t so closed off.”

Lance took a seat. “Call me jaded, but everything is a lot easier in black and white.”

“And it’s a lot lonelier.” They both began to eat.

Lance shrugged. “Parents don’t bother me, I have a cat that doesn’t judge, and plenty of writing to do. I don’t like being lonely, but if it keeps me from hurting people, then maybe it’s for the best. And I’ve been trying to do better but all it does is mess more things up.”

“You do realize that by caging yourself like this, all you’re doing is hurting everyone?”

“Allura, you’re my friend, so is Hunk, Pidge, and Shiro. And I love all of you dearly, but I simply don’t understand what all of you see in me if it’s always ‘Lance you can’t just say that’ or ‘Lance that is not how you do things’. I’m mind boggled. I don’t understand.” Lance put his fork down and places his head in his hands.

Allura also stopped eating and placed her hand on his shoulder. “We care about you? We want you to achieve your dreams? We want to see you happy? Lance, I have never seen you genuinely happy. Ever.” She blinked back some tears. “It’s hard to be there for someone who just seems like they’d rather be alone.”

Lance looked up. “Allura, please don’t cry… I just really suck at this people stuff. I’ve been trying to be more out there. I hang out at the coffee shop Keith works at, some students see me and ask about homework and such.” Lance paused and gave Allura a small smile. “It’s nice, but parties aren’t my thing. I don’t like sports that much. I don’t like crowds. And because of that, it seems like I would rather be alone, and it’s really not the case. I just don’t know anything else.”

Allura dropped her hand from Lance’s shoulder, down into her lap. “I get it. It was hard for you growing up. But us still sticking with you…doesn’t that show you that you’re more than what you think you are? You were able to make friends, we’re proof.”

Lance took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes. “I know…I know.”

“You’re not the only one with problems. You know Shiro has to work two jobs just to pay for classes. Even with his arm. And Pidge and Hunk have their demons too. What’s really holding you back?” She looked at him with big, worried eyed.

“I don’t know. You know I was kicked out for being me when I was sixteen. I’ve been on my own since. I’m lucky to have this small house as a really cheap rental and it’s close to campus. I guess I’m scared that being me will scare you guys off. So I built my walls, dug my grave, and here I am sitting and waiting for if all to come crashing down. The fall is inevitable.”

“I may not have known you before, but Hunk did. Did he run?” She always gave Lance a motherly feeling – as if she was talking to her son, not her friend.

“No but there was a long time before we could talk again. All I could do was work and sleep in a safe place and go to school. I didn’t have time for a social life. I coped by making myself busy so I wouldn’t think about it.” Lance sat back in his seat and stared at the plate of food in front of him.

“You’re surrounded by more people now and we’re more accepting. We care about you. So please, stop pushing us away.” Her words sounded like a desperate plea.

Lance was silent for a few moments. “I’m not trying to,” he said quietly. “But you all seem to get that impression and it you want to leave, that’s fine, I get it, but know that I tried okay? I really am trying.”

“And that’s why we aren’t leaving. You need us and we don’t want to go anywhere. I just hope I’ll get the chance to see the old Lance again.”

“If you all feel that way, why do you all seem like you want to give up? It’s not exactly encouraging…”

“I think we’re all just tired of saying the same thing. Which is why I wish you would give Keith a chance. He’s a great person. He’s what you need right now.”

Lance thought that by now, he would be tired of hearing Keith’s name. The thought of making new friends, having to open up as much as he has with everyone else to a completely new person scared him. “I called him before you came over, but he didn’t pick up so I left him a voicemail. He hasn’t said anything since.”

“Just give him some time, he’ll come around.”

Lance gave Allura a tired smile and continued to eat. They both finished their food in silence. Lance was thankful that Allura came over. He didn’t know until this moment, but he needed to talk to someone. He needed someone to listen and give him some answers. Once they were finished, Lance took both plates back to the sink and washed them.

“Didn’t you have work that you needed to do?”

Allura nodded. “It’s back at my place.”

“You weren’t planning on staying, were you?”

She shook her head. “It’s not that. I just came from physical therapy with Shiro, so I dropped him off and came over. I didn’t exactly have time to bring all my work with me.”

Lance nodded and hummed. “If you would like…we could meet up another day and I could help you out.”

Allura smiled for the first time that night. “I would love that. How does Wednesday work for you?”

“I can do Wednesday morning.”

“Perfect. I’ll text you about it when I get home then.”

Lance dried his hands and walked Allura to the door. “I’ll be waiting.”

Allura gave Lance a quick hug and headed to her car. “Goodnight Lance.”

“Night Allura.”

* * *

Hunk spoke from behind where the camera was once the director called it a day. “Another food scene, another torturous night for me.”

Allura wiped her mouth on a napkin carefully to make sure she didn’t smudge her lipstick on her face. Lance took off his glasses and handed them to someone who worked in props. He picked up Blue.

“You did amazing today. I’m proud of you. We didn’t need more than five retakes. Next time, let’s aim for three, tops.” Lance spoke to Blue with a baby voice. The cat replied with a meow and a yawn. “Let’s get you to bed.”

Blue jumped out of Lance’s arms and ran over to Keith. He squatted down to pet the cat. “Hey Blue. Tired after a long day’s work.”

“Blue, I’ve been betrayed!”

Keith glance up at Lance who was clutching his shirt as if he was shot in the chest before looking back at Blue. “Calm down Casanova.”

“I will not ca – …” Lance stared at Keith who was looking up at him through his bangs again. “What did you just call me?” He could feel the blush starting to creep up his face and honestly wished this wasn’t happening in front of the entire cast and crew.

Everyone’s eyes were on Keith who was dusting his jeans to get rid of any strands of fur that settled on him. He walked over to Lance and leaned in close. “If you were trying to make it into tomorrow’s headlines, congratulations,” Keith whispered in Lance’s ear.

Lance turned to look at him, not taking into consideration how close they were. He took a step back to create distance and stared at the indifferent expression on his coworkers face. “What are you talking about?”

Keith didn’t answer. His expression shifted in the slightest and if Lance hadn’t been paying attention, he would’ve missed it. Keith almost looked…hurt.

He turned around and said his goodbyes to the crew, already having said goodnight to the other actors. Lance watched him walk of set until he couldn’t see Keith anymore.

“He was talking about your girlfriend,” Pidge said, appearing out of nowhere.

“My what?” Lance was extremely confused.

“Your girlfriend. Nyma? You guys made the front page of a celebrity news site. Didn’t know you two were serious.” Pidge held out their phone which had some pictures open.

Lance scrolled through them. These were taken a few days ago when Lance went out with some friends. He had been the only one who hadn’t been drinking since he had filming the next day so he was the designated driver. The pictures that were taken were of him helping Nyma into his car – after she ran back in to get one last drink.

“No – this isn’t true!” He was more defensive than he meant to be, but the person he wanted to explain this to had already left.

“It looks pretty bad Lance. You two have been spotted together a lot recently. We may know the truth, but to the rest of the world, it looks like you’re taken.”

Lance handed the phone back to Pidge. “I need to talk to my manager.” He raked his hand through his hair forgetting about the mouse in it, leaving his hand slightly sticky and his hair pushed back completely. He walked off to his car, pushing back his plans for bed back a couple hours.

He needed to fix this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you guys think! You can find me at [@soltserra](https://soltserra.tumblr.com/).  
> 


	5. Act 5: Keith has a crush!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Get ready for more BTS plot~

* * *

_Scene I_

* * *

 

Allura walked into the coffee shop and headed to the register to order. There weren’t many people today, customers or workers. She ordered her drink and sat down at Lance’s table. He didn’t look up from his book. They planned their next meet up the day after the dinner. She felt at peace after the dinner, so she had been looking forward to this meetup.

“Lan –“

He shushed her. “Give me one minute to finish this chapter.”

Allura nodded in understanding and unpacked some of her stuff. She flipped through her notebook to look over her notes as Lance finished up. He placed the book down and gave her a typical smile. It was the same fake smile that he gave everyone.

“Sorry, I was just trying to get to a good place to stop so we could talk.”

Allura was a little shocked. “You just…you stopped reading and put your book down because you wanted to talk to me?”

Lance’s expression changed to one of worry. “Was that not right? Did I do something wrong?”

“No! I’m just surprised.”

Lance was relieved. “Oh, well, Hunk told me that if someone is trying to talk to me, I should stop what I’m doing and pay attention. Part of his theory on why I seem so cold.”

Allura’s face broke out into a grin. “I’m so proud of you!”

He felt like he was being treated like a five year old, but humored her anyways. “So how was your day so far? You had class this morning, yes?” Lance folded his hands under his chin.

Allura nodded. “It was a bit busy, but I managed to get some real work done.”

“Sounds like how mine was. Coran and I –“

While they were talking, Keith had walked in from the back and started his shift. He placed Allura’s coffee on the table, silently, and began to walk back to the register.

“Keith, Keith, Keith, Keith, Keith, come back,” Allura pleaded from her seat.

“I think he’s still mad at me,” Lance said quietly.

“No, not mad.”

“The scowl says otherwise.”

Allura looked at Lance and he stopped talking.

Keith walked back over. “Yeah?”

“Lance wanted to talk,” Allura said, gesturing to a surprised Lance.

Lance opened and closed his mouth. He wasn’t exactly prepared for this and wasn’t quite sure what to say or do.

Keith stared at him as he tried to form words. “If you don’t need anything, I need to get back to work.”

“I…” Keith turned to walk back. “Keith wait.”

He looked at Lance with a questioning look.

“Did you get my call last night? The voicemail?”

Keith blinked. “Oh yeah. Pidge was kinda yelling and I was tired so I forgot to reply. Like I said, it’s no big deal.”

Lance took off his glasses to clean them. “That’s the thing. It’s actually a big deal. I messed up,” he glanced at Allura, “and I’m really sorry. Can we start over?” He put his glasses back on and looked up at Keith.

Keith could tell Lance meant it this time. This was important to him. It was like he was trying to prove to himself that he could make a new friend, no matter how many times he messed up. Keith recalled Hunk asking him not to give up on Lance.

“Yeah…” He didn’t expect this from Lance, so he was taken aback slightly by all this.

“I honestly wasn’t expecting to get this far so I don’t know what to do or say next…”

Keith chuckled. “It’s something. But I do have to get back to work.”

“Right, you’re working. Sorry to keep you from it. Uh. Thanks for not…not being mad at me I guess.” Lance was fidgeting with the cloth he used to clean his glasses under the table.

Keith smiled at Lance while he turned to head back to the register, but not without catching the small smile playing on Lance’s face. He didn’t comment on it, but rather silently celebrated the small victory. It was small, but Keith would take the small smile over the scowl he wore at the party any day.

Lance ran his hand through his hair and sighed. “That was hard. And I sounded like an idiot.”

Allura reached over the table and smacked Lance’s arm, ignoring what he just said. “You just smiled,” she whispered loudly.

“I – what?” Lance rubbed his arm. “That hurt you know. But what’s so big about me smiling?”

Allura was grinning. “YOU NEVER SMILE,” she continued to whisper.

Lance scrunched his eyebrows. “I do too. I did when we started talking.” He didn’t understand what was wrong with Allura.

“Not like that, no. Your normal smiles are forced and elastic.”

Lance processed this information slowly. “And, there’s a difference?”

Allura nodded.

“Oh my god, I’m an idiot…” Lance didn’t realize something as simple as a smile had a hidden complexity. He just…did it. He thought they were all the same, happy, sad, angry, etc. You think he would know better, being an aspiring writer and all, but Lance was as clueless as a sheltered child.

“Yes you are.”

Lance stared at Allura. “Oh, that’s so reassuring. Thanks for the vote of confidence.”

Allura had a pleased look. Lance didn’t know what to do, and just for a brief moment, he reacted the way his old self would.

He stuck his tongue out at her.

Allura’s expression faded as she stared at an unphased Lance, shocked. She watched as Lance took a sip of his coffee. This wasn’t something Allura was used to. She wasn’t complaining, in fact, she was bubbling with happiness. Lance had already started opening up more, even if it was just a simple expression.

“Today is a day of firsts!”

Lance laughed. He actually laughed, not that fake chuckle everyone was used to hearing from him. Given, this was more from the chest than from his diaphragm, but it was still a laugh that wasn’t forced. “Today has been a good day, besides being holed up in the archives for Coran and Thace.”

“Is this a dream?” She stared at Lance in wonder.

“No. It’s real.”

“Lance is smiling and laughing and his nose isn’t in a book. Five seconds of being friends with Keith and this is what I get.”

Lance wrinkled his nose. “You wouldn’t believe how taxing it is though. I’m going to go home and crash after this, I’m telling you now. And I still wouldn’t say I’m friends with him yet. Just…” Lance glanced over at Keith who was warming something up for a customer. “Acquaintances.”

“You’ll get used to the feeling, and I’ll take it. Acquaintances is better than nothing.”

Lance rolled his eyes and took another sip of his coffee. “Has Keith always been in your friend group?”

She shook her head. “No, I met him when I met Shiro.”

“Are they related?” Lance watched Keith. He was simpering, trying not to get off task while talking to the girl he was helping. Whatever Keith had said, sent the girl into a laughing fit. Keith waved of her cash and went to make her drink. Lance had a small hope that he got to the point where he was close enough to Keith that he wouldn’t have to pay for his coffee too. Was it wrong of him to try to gain something from a possible friendship? Possibly. But it didn’t stop Lance.

“He’s Shiro’s brother.”

Lance nodded slowly. “Adopted I’m guessing.”

“Yeah. His parents passed away when he was younger and they were close friends with Shiro’s so they adopted him soon after. Technically, Shiro has known Keith since he was born so they practically are brothers.” Allura was watching Keith as well.

“Tell me something about his personality. I still don’t know much about him.”

Allura stared down at the coffee cup in her hands. “Personality…” She thought about it for a few moments while Lance continued to watch Keith. He had finished the girl’s drink and she took a seat on the bar stool next to the pickup area. She continued to talk to both Keith and the other barista.

 _Brian?_ , Lance wondered.

“He’s complicated. Keith is an onion. He has layer after layer.”

Lance thought about what Allura just said. “Why are you making a Shrek reference?” Lance sat up straight. “Why did I even catch on to that?”

Allura covered her mouth as she tried to suppress a laugh. “I didn’t mean to.”

Lance let his head fall down onto the table. “I am a disgrace to literature and shouldn’t be allowed in public. Shrek was a good movie and then the sequels came out and now I’m forever scarred by ‘Shrek is love, Shrek is life’ memes and I can’t…” Lance wanted to ground to open up and swallow him.

Allura couldn’t stop the laughter from spilling out. She threw her head back and laughed as Lance continued the dramatics.

“Alluraaaaaa, this isn’t funnyyyyy,” Lance whined, looking up at her.

She calmed down and focused back to the previous conversation. “The layer most people see is the friendly barista.” She gestured to Keith who was still mingling with customers.

Lance looked over and nodded. “Okay. Understandable.”

“Another layer people normally see is his competitive layer.”

“The drinking game.” Lance recalled how Keith refused to let Allura win, even if it was her birthday. “I’m still sorry about that by the way. I was stressed out and didn’t mean to belittle the two of you.”

Allura partially agreed. “More so in cross country and track. It got him his scholarship.” She gave him a reassuring pat on the hand. “It’s okay. It was the easiest way for Keith to meet new people and for me to just unwind. Everyone has their preferences.”

Lance nodded a little. “I see. So what’s a side normal people don’t usually see?”

“Anger,” Allura replied in a split second. “Definitely can say I’ve never seen that.”

“I feel like Pidge has seen enough for all of us.”

Allura thought about it. “I recall only one time where Pidge has seen Keith angry.”

Lance leaned forward, curiosity taking over him. “What happened?” He picked up his coffee cup to take a sip and realized it was cold. He put it back down and focused on Allura again.

“Pidge never told me the details but said it had something to do with Shiro.”

“Family matters then. None of our business. Well, not mine.” As much as Lance wanted to know what happened, he knew all too well how outsiders should stay out of matters that don’t concern them.

Allura snapped her fingers. “I’ve never seen him jealous. Or envious.”

“Has he never dated anyone before?” He did his best not to sound like he was judging Keith. For the record, he wasn’t. Lance was in no position to judge anyone when it came to relationships.

“He has, but it was never anything too serious.”

“I guess that makes sense. I still don’t know how he wouldn’t be jealous in a relationship. I’m not one to talk though.”

Allura frowned a little. “You had plenty of chances to be in a relationship.”

“I don’t –“

“Freshman year. Angie,” she replied before Lance could finish his sentence.

Lance had to think about who Allura was referring to. “She was…nice.”

“She asked you out and you said no.”

“It was raining and I thought she meant go outside.”

Allura let out a small groan.

“What?”

She leaned forward and rested her arms on the table. “End of freshman year. Sydney. She asked you out too.”

“Another really nice girl. And we were already outside.”

Allura groaned louder.

Lance looked around and noticed some people staring. “Allura, people are looking now,” he whispered.

Allura stood up and slammed her hands on the table. “SOPHOMORE YEAR, ROBBY TOLD YOU HE LIKED YOU,” she whispered harshly.

“And I told him I liked him back, but it was platonic.”

Allura sat in her seat and slide down. Lance swirled his cold coffee.

“You are Captain Oblivious…”

“Really? Would have never known without you recounting all my supposed failed attempts at getting a date. Call it a defense mechanism. My sexuality may not be a problem now, but we live in a heteronormative society, and I see not dating as the easiest way to deal with it.”

“You do know that you don’t need to hide who you are anymore, right?” she asked from her awkward position in her seat.

Lance sighed. He knew Allura wasn’t going to let this go. “Not to be rude, but don’t you have class soon?”

Allura looked at the time and gasped. “I can’t be late!” She sat up and collected her things. “Okay, we are doing this again within the next month. I can’t have you dropping off the planet again.”

Lance chuckled. “Promise.”

Allura gave him once last glance over her shoulder as she ran out to get to class. Lance was left alone to do as he pleased. He didn’t have much to do, and he wasn’t entirely sure where to go next with his novel, so he opened the document and began to reread it in order to figure out where he started to lose the plot.

 

Brian slid over to Keith with a coy grin which boarded on a smirk. “You okay there, Keith?”

Keith looked down at his shoes as he held a semi-clean blender in the sink. “No, I spilled water on my shoe and now my sock is all wet and gross.”

“I wonder why,” Brian said, still grinning.

“Because the sink went crazy.” Keith gestured to the blender in the sink and the leaking faucet. When he turned it on, the faucet sprayed out at a weird angle, but his reflexes weren’t fast enough to prevent him from getting wet.

“Mm, I think you got lost looking at glasses over there.”

Keith looked up at Brian, surprised. He tried to hide the blush that started to creep onto his face. “N-no.”

Brian nodded. “Uh huh. You nearly melted when he smiled at the girl he was talking with. You swooned when he laughed.”

Keith looked at Brian from the corner of his eye. “Stop analyzing me. It’s creepy.”

“You think you’re so smooth.” Brian’s tone was smug, which matched his expression perfectly.

“I never said that.”

“No wonder you suck at poker.”

“I never said I was good at poker either.” Keith rolled his eyes.

“Keith, I’ve known you for years. I know all your tells.”

“Stooooop,” Keith groaned.

“Not until you admit that bookworm over there is cute and you have a crush on him.”

“Nope.”

“Then prepared to be teased constantly.” Keith had finished making a new cup of coffee for Lance.

“I hate you.” He walked over to Lance and placed the new cup on the table. He picked up the cold cup. “Here ya go.”

“Thanks, I appreciate it.” Lance’s face lit up in a way that was more warm and friendly compared to the neutral expression he constantly wore. Keith’s heart did a little double-take at the new sight.

“Yup.” Keith turned on his heel, trying to avoid blushining front of him. Lance watched Keith retreat with a little concern. He also noticed the girl had left.

Keith found Brian struggling to make a coffee. He was holding onto the counter as he laughed.

“I seriously hate you. Like. A lot.” Keith shoved Brian over and finished the order. He handed the customer their drink.

Brian wiped his eye and cleared his throat. “Sure you do.”

“I do.”

Brian hummed. “Right.”

Keith ignored Brian and attended to the next customer. “Hi, what can I get for you?”

 

Brian went back to cleaning the dishes Keith had abandoned. Keith began to cover the drinks, making the orders as he manned the register. He wasn’t used to doing this, but he didn’t mind since it helped him keep his mind off of Lance.

He handed the coffee to the customer. “Have a nice day,” Keith said.

He peeked over at Lance who actually finished his coffee for once. He was furiously scribbling away in his book, after having given up on writing.

“Now you’re all giddy because he smiled at you,” Brian said quietly over his shoulder.

Keith jumped a little. “I _just_ stopped thinking about that.” Keith dropped his head in his hands in order to hide the blush that resurfaced on his face.

“Keith has a crush. Keith has a crush. Keith has a crush,” Brian sang.

“Can you shut it? He’s right there,” Keith whispered.

“Do you have a name?”

“No because then you’ll announce it to the entire campus.” Keith crossed his arms over his damp shirt.

Brian smirked. “Keith and glasses sitting in a tree,” he sang.

Keith turned around wide-eyed. “BRIAN.”

“K-I-S-S-I-N-G,” he continued.

Lance looked up, confused by the sudden outburst from Keith. He watched as Keith walked into the back room and Brian held his stomach as he laughed. He began to pack up all his stuff. He took his cup to the counter and left the store after saying bye to Brian.

Keith walked out with two bottles of milk. “Where do you want these?” Keith asked without looking up.

“In the cooler like always,” Brian replied.

Keith put the milk bottles away and picked up the cup to wash. He almost missed the note that was on the napkin, peeking out from under the cup. Keith removed it and placed the cup in the sink.

_Thanks for the coffees from the other times. (:_

Keith blushed a little. He put the note in his pocket and washed the cup, trying to calm down so Brian wouldn’t tease him more.

* * *

_Scene II_

* * *

 

 **Lance:** How do you know if someone is okay?  
**Hunk:** Depends. Most of the time, you can pick up on their habits  
**Lance:** Well, I know Allura is okay because she told me so, but I’m not sure about Keith.  
**Lance:** I did what you said. I…smiled, I guess? I did laugh. Plus, I put my book down and we had a conversation that lasted till her next class.  
**Lance:** I think Keith and I are okay…  
**Hunk:** I’M PROUD OF YOU BUD  
**Lance:** But I’m not 100% sure on that  
**Lance:** …what?  
**Hunk:** You put your book down and talked  
**Lance:** You act like I’m more than socially stunted, but emotionally too.  
**Hunk:** Well, you only do ever empathize with a book or Blue so…  
**Lance:** Mm  
**Hunk:** What about Keith?  
**Lance:** Well I apologized (for the 4 th time) and asked if we could start over  
**Lance:** He said okay  
**Lance:** At that point I didn’t know what to say and kinda went speechless…  
**Hunk:** Did he say okay :/ or okay :D  
**Lance:** More like okay J  
**Hunk:** Awwwww  
**Hunk:** If I know Keith, you two are okay now

* * *

 

Today’s filming wrapped up quickly since Lance had to meet with his manager and the production team for the movie. He hadn’t had the chance to talk to Keith privately since he left the night before. He may not have told anyone, but he did like Keith. He was the only reason Lance decided to audition for this role.

Lance was currently sitting in a meeting room at his management company’s office. There were about five other people in the room with him, including his manager.

“So, I talked to Nyma’s management and they are okay with letting this fake relationship play out. If you ask me, it sounds like they tried to get her close to you and even planned to have you two linked together. She’s using your career as a stepping stone for hers.”

Lance had leaned onto the table and rested his forehead on in. He turned so his cheek was pressed again the cold surface and looked at his manager. “I don’t even know her. She’s just been at parties and dinners that I’ve been to.”

His manager nodded. “Which is why I think this was planned. Plus they asked if you could continue with this.”

Lance closed his eyes and groaned. “Why meeee?”

One of the producers spoke. “You’ve been pretty successful with your last few films. I’m not surprised that this happened. With how well you’re doing, people from all over would want to associate with you in hopes that some of your spotlight rubs off on them.”

Lance sat up. “Well, if they want to be noticed, they should work hard. I didn’t make it this far with fake relationships and mediocre skills. I put my one hundred and ten percent into everything I did.” He was annoyed. He understood fake dating a co-star to promote a movie, but never understood using someone else’s fame for your own gain. He attributed that to how he was raised. His parents always made sure that he worked hard to achieve his goals and made sure he never became dependent on someone else for his success – other than his manager, but that was a different concept.

“Well, it’s your choice.” His manager cleared her throat. “I’m not going to force you to do anything. Just let me know your decision before you make any statements.”

Lance sighed. “I’m gonna have so much hate for this now.” He remembered the last time he was in a relationship with his co-star, how many of his fans were unhappy that he was taken. He knew Nyma would get a lot of hate too, especially since she was gorgeous. Lance just hadn’t been interested in anyone since he became friends with Keith.

And this? This scandal just ruined almost any chance that he may have had with him.

“That’s all I needed to discuss with you. Unless you have any other concerns or want to listen in how we’re going to try to keep that news separate from the movie, you are free to go.”

Lance gave his manager a tired smile. “Thanks for everything Gina. I really appreciate what you do for me. I know I can be extremely difficult at times, so thank you.”

“Dealing with your difficulty was in the fine print. Still, I don’t regret anything. You’re talented Lance, you really are. We’ll help you get through this.” She gave Lance’s hand a squeeze and resumed going over some plans for future publicity for the movie.

Lance got up and waved at everyone as he headed out. He knew that the movie was going to have a lot of attention since Shiro and Allura were in it. They were one of the biggest ‘it’ couples at the moment, but the media hadn’t gotten wind that they were secondary characters. The knowledge of them being in the film was enough to attraction the attention of thousands. Factor in both Keith and Lance. They were looking at a million.

He thought about their cast. Everyone was hugely popular, so Lance had no worries on attracting an audience.

His main concern was Keith. God, he wanted to explain everything to Keith, but he was working on another project along with the movie so it was hard to get any free time alone with him.

Lance pulled out his phone, deciding to try something. He dialed Keith and hoped he picked up.

“Hey. Everything okay?” Lance rarely called Keith so he immediately assumed something was wrong whenever Lance called. It all started when Lance called Keith one night, a little drunk, asking him for a ride home after getting into a fight at a bar. Ever since then, Keith just assumed something was wrong when Lance called.

“Hey. I hope so. Just finished talking to Gina and the team. Can we meet up somewhere and talk?”

There was a brief pause and Lance could hear papers shuffling.

“Hey, how’s the baby?” Lance heard a groan through the speaker. Keith laughed and a door shut. “Sorry about that. Uh, what do you want to talk about?”

“Just…things. Stuff I want to tell you in person.” Lance prayed that Keith would say yes.

Another pause and Lance felt like his heart was going to explode from how fast it was beating.

“I don’t have much free time. If you can’t talk when we’re on set about it, I have some time off in about two weeks.”

Lance mentally cursed. “Nothing sooner?”

“Not really, no.”

Lance thought about it. “Uhm, I’ll try tomorrow then.”

“Okay. Anything else?”

Lance wished he had something else to talk about so he could talk to Keith longer. “Not that I can think of.”

“Alright. I have to get back to work. I have a deadline to meet soon and I’m a bit behind. See you tomorrow.”

“See ya…” The line went dead and Lance tried to relax. Keith didn’t sound mad at him, but the hurt expression Keith had last night wouldn’t leave his mind.

Lance got into his car and started making a mental game plan. He was determined to fix everything and his first step was to talk to Nyma when she wasn’t drunk and not in public to figure out what exactly was going on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you guys think! You can find me at [@soltserra](https://soltserra.tumblr.com/).  
> 


	6. Act 6: Ooooooooor

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just want to thank everyone for being so patient. Here's a slower chapter, I'll try to get the next one up sooner!

* * *

_Scene I_

* * *

 

Keith was sitting by himself in the library when Hunk found him. He was pretty engulfed in whatever he was doing, so Hunk didn’t really want to bother him. His feet, on the other hand, had lead him to the lone boy without a second thought.

“Hey,” he said loud enough for only Keith to hear.

Keith didn’t look up, but recognized the voice. “Hi.”

“Whatcha workin’ on?” Hunk leaned forward to look at the papers.

“The design for the arm. I’m still trying to get the details right so there’s less friction without compromising the durability or weight.” Keith held up the papers for Hunk to look at and sat back in his seat. “But don’t worry. I think I got it.”

“What are you thinking? Pneumatics? Hydraulics?” Hunk skimmed the papers quickly.

“Uh, still looking into it. I should have a design for you by the end of the week.”

“Okay. That’ll work dude.” Hunk looked at the papers again. “I should leave you to it. It’s coming along great though.”

Keith smiled. “Thanks. Oh and no go on the meeting on Saturday. I have a meet.”

“That’s fine. Sunday?”

Keith nodded. “That works.”

“Sweet, I’ll see you then.”

“Later.” Keith went back to work as Hunk headed to an isolated table to begin studying for his own classes.

* * *

_Scene II_

* * *

 

Keith was stretching to warm up his muscles as he waited for Eric. He had his headphones in as he bent his leg back and grabbed his foot from the back to stretch his quads.

Eric waved a hand in front of Keith’s face to get his attention even though he didn’t actually have to do that. He succeeded in distracting Keith, which causes him to let go of his leg before he lost his balance and fell over. Eric joined him in his stretching. The wide grin on Eric’s face prompted Keith to cautiously remove his headphones.

“So, I heard you have a crush,” Eric said in a teasing tone.

Keith groaned. “No. I’m not having this conversation.” He began to put his headphones back in, but Eric stopped him before he had the chance to do so.

“Keeeeeith, who is it? I haven’t noticed you hanging out with anyone new in particular.” He stopped stretching and placed a hand on his chin as he thought.

Keith glared at him. He knew Eric knew who it was and he was just putting on a show.

“Just kidding. I know it’s Lance.”

Keith turned around and began to jog their usual route with Eric matching his pace. “If you knew, then why ask?”

“Kinda wanted to hear you say it,” Eric shrugged.

Keith rolled his eyes in response. These kinds of conversations weren’t uncommon for the two – both of them have been on the receiving ends of it. Keith just wasn’t looking forward to what Eric would say since he had never liked anyone like Lance before.

“Why Lance? He’s not really ‘your type’?”

“I don’t know…it doesn’t matter anyways. He doesn’t like me.” Keith slowed down and Eric matched his pace once again.

“Why not? Maybe he’s a little slow on the pickup, but that doesn’t mean he’s not interested.” At this point, Keith knew Eric was speaking from experience.

Keith didn’t hesitate to answer. “I’m not interested in falling for someone who’s too dense to figure out how to make friends.”

“Well it’s likely that he’s never had a relationship before. So he may not even know how to be in one. You never know,” Eric sang.

“I’m fine where I am.”

“You know I’ll call Allura and Jen then.”

Keith held his ground. “I know you will. But I’m fine.”

“No you’re not, you’re sulking.”

“Am not.”

“Are too.” Eric continued before Keith could reply with another ‘am not’. “Tell me what you see in him that’s making you crush on him like this.”

He shook his head. “I don’t even know…I really don’t. The first time I met him, he almost walked into the street while reading a book. I pulled him back before he did.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.” Keith picked up his pace a little, with Eric following suit.

“Wow. Keep going.”

“He always has his nose in a book.”

Eric glanced at Keith, confused. “Aren’t you and reading the worse of friends?”

“Yes. It’s so boring.”

“And you’re confused as to why he can’t seem to pull himself out of one?”

“Well…yeah.”

Eric hummed. “Anything else? Besides you being more extroverted and him being a complete introvert? You a socialite and him a wallflower?” Keith didn’t interject as Eric continued. “Because let’s be honest here. He sounds like your _exact_ opposite.”

Keith turned around and ran back in the direction they came from, a little annoyed.

Eric stopped running to catch his breath and watched as Keith ran away from him. He followed, soon matching pace with Keith once again. “Keeeeith. I meant nothing bad by it. I was just thinking out loud.” He paused. “But can you deny it?”

Keith was silent for a moment. He didn’t want to admit that Eric had a very valid point. “No,” he replied begrudgingly.

“Finally! You admit to something. Anyways. Maybe you should try.”

“Try what?”

“Lance doesn’t seem half bad and I’m sure that when you catch him without his nose in a book or not in an overbearing social situation, he might be alright.”

Keith looked at Eric from the corner of his eye. “Ooooooooor.”

Eric covered his ears with his hands. “Keith. Keith. Don’t. No. Not listening to or. Nope. Shhhh.”

Keith rolled his eyes and continued to speak. “All of you can just let me keep my distance and let this fizzle out. I like the or.”

“And I’m saying, like Hunk, Allura, and Jen when I tell her – because I am – give the guy a chance. He’s the only undergrad TA I know that’s allowed to lecture at all. That’s gotta be worth something.”

“Okay…” Keith started to feel out of breath from running and talking. It wasn’t something he normally did, so Keith just wanted to stop talking, not just because they were talking about Lance. “Cool. You want me to give him a cookie?”

Now it was Eric’s turn to roll his eyes. “Not what I’m saying, man. Just let him warm up to you.”

“I tried? Three times?”

“He’s in your friend circle – wait, three times?”

“Yes.”

“Tell me.”

Keith sighed. “First time I met him, I told you. And then Hunk introduced us and I thought ‘if Hunk is his best friend, he can’t be that bad’ so there’s number one. I tried to talk to him at the party, but he kinda just insulted us and left. That was two. Three was when Brian told me to talk to him at work. And I did. And he couldn’t be more uninterested in what I was saying.”

“Damn…”

“But wait, bonus round. Allura made him apologize _again_ and here we are. The guy doesn’t like me.”

“What did he say? The last time you talked to him.”

Keith took a deep breath. “Said sorry and rambled on about how he wasn’t social and asked to start over.”

“See, he wants to start over.” Eric was trying so hard to sell the idea of giving Lance a shot, but he knew how stubborn Keith could be. He also knew that Keith wasn’t looking for something complicated right now since he had enough drama with Shiro to last him a lifetime.

“He probably said that because Allura was staring at him. You know how she can be.”

“She was probably encouraging him.”

Keith jogged onto the track, glad that their run was finally over. “I don’t even know anymore.”

“And it’s driving you and the rest of us insane.”

Keith wiped his face with his shirt. “Then I won’t bring it up.”

“Nah, no no. You don’t get off that easy, Kogane.”

Eric sat down on the dirt and began to stretch with the help of Keith. “Go with the or.”

“That’s the easy way out.”

“Exactly.”

Eric grunted as Keith pulled away from him and he straightened his back. “And when, for the entire time you’ve known me, have I ever let you take the easy way out?”

“There’s always first time for everything.” Keith wanted nothing more than for this conversation to be over. He was tired of listening to Eric push for something that wasn’t likely to happen. Keith didn’t want to get his hopes up and be let down by something he has no control over. He couldn’t force Lance to like him. He couldn’t just expect something to happen between them. He just wanted everyone to understand the same things he did.

“Have you ever regretted going the hard way?”

Keith paused. He never really said no to a challenge so if he said yes, he would have been lying. “I’m not answering that.”

“That’s right because you never have. I’m basically your conscience.”

“And I hate it.”

Eric smacked Keith’s leg. “Bitch please. You love me.”

Keith rubbed where Eric hit him. “Ow?” It was Keith’s turn to stretch. He switched spots with Eric and allowed the other boy to push him forward as he reached for his toes.

“You’re a big baby.”

“So what if I am?” Keith didn’t bother denying it.

“You need to toughen up. I know you can.”

“What do I need to do to get you off my back?”

Eric pushed Keith a little further than he knew Keith could handle. “Ha ha, very funny. But in all seriousness, make one last effort. If he still seems uninterested, then I’ll drop it and you can stop.” He pulled away.

“I’m tired of trying. Being friends with someone shouldn’t be this hard.”

“Look Keith, the kid is really smart and doesn’t have many friends to begin with. Being friends with a social butterfly will help him in so many ways. Just go to a lecture if you don’t believe me. Check it out.”

Keith flopped backwards onto the dirt. He held his hand out to shield his eyes from the sun as he look at Eric. “You and I both know that if I go to a lecture, I’ll be lost in five seconds.”

“True, but Allura will be there. Plus, I just want you to check it out. I’m not telling you to participate in the discussion.”

Keith contemplated the idea for a minute. “Fine, fine. I’ll go. Just…if this is a complete failure, we’re not bringing it up again.”

“Good! And okay.”

They both finished up their stretches and headed to their coach’s office to ask about the game plan on Saturday.

* * *

_Scene III_

* * *

 

 **Keith:** Hey, could you help me out with something?  
**Allura:** Sure! What can I help you with?  
**Keith:** Lance is a TA for one of your class’s right? Eric wants me to go to one of his lectures  
**Allura:** He is! His lectures are great! You can come with me tomorrow then. I hope you enjoy it.  
**Keith:** Thanks Lura. Not sure how much I’ll enjoy it, but I’ll try.  
**Allura:** Of course!

* * *

_Scene IV_

* * *

 

Keith waited for Allura outside the building her class was in. He was pretty nervous and even contemplated not showing up, but didn’t think that would be fair to Eric or Allura. He pulled out his phone and pretended to look busy to avoid strangers’ eyes on him.

Allura tapped him on the shoulder several minutes later. Keith put his phone away and turned to her. Seeing her face light up at the sight of him, Keith momentarily thought that this might not be a bad idea.

“Come on, the lecture hall is this way.” She hooked her arm with Keith’s and began to drag him towards the class. “We just started a new book so it shouldn’t be that confusing or hard to follow, but let me know if it is. Lance is pretty good at covering the major details, so even if you haven’t read, it’s easy to follow along.”

The closer Keith got to the lecture hall, the louder Keith’s heart beat was in his ears. He had tuned out Allura at this point and was trying to calm down. He didn’t know why he was getting so worked up over a simple lecture. He blatantly avoided the fact that it was Lance’s lecture and focused on the fact the he was observing an English lecture and deemed that the root of his nerves.

Allura opened the door to the hall and led Keith inside. She smiled at Lance, who waved at her in response.

“I’m pretty excited for this new book. I’ve heard many good things about it,” Allura said, walking up to him.

Lance nodded. “I do hope you enjoy it as much as I do. It should tie in with the other literature class you’re taking. You’re covering the grotesque right now, if I’m not mistaken.”

“We are. This should help then. It’s one of the more interesting literature themes in my opinion.”

Keith awkwardly stood behind Allura as she talked with Lance. He looked at the students who had already taken their seats and noticed a few familiar faces.

Keith looked back at Lance when he heard Allura call his name. Lance was looking at him a little surprised, but not in a bad way.

“I didn’t know you were in this class.”

“I’m not. A friend asked me to check it out,” Keith replied with a tight-lipped smile.

“Oh, well, thanks for coming! We just started a new book, hopefully you can still follow.”

Keith nodded slowly, unsure of how to take that.

“Uh…maybe I shouldn’t have said that…uhm…Anyways, I hope you enjoy.” He smiled at Keith, the same plastic one he normally wore. He was a little embarrassed by what he just said and hoped Keith didn’t read into it that much.

Keith nodded once again as he let Allura lead him to a seat. He watched as she unpacked and took out her book. _The Shadow of the Wind_. Keith had never heard of it, but he had the feeling he was about to learn more than he would like to.

Lance cleared his throat. “Okay guys. Did everyone read the first five chapters?”

“Yo Lance, be proud. I read the first seven,” Chris said from the back of the class.

Lance raised an eyebrow. “So what do you think of the Devil? Good or bad character?”

“Dude, he was just introduced. But I’m indifferent right now.” Chris shrugged.

“True, I’ll give it to you. What about the author, Julián Carax? Your thoughts on this mysterious figure?”

“I feel like the idiot is about to fuck up Daniel’s world, not in a good way.”

Lance chuckled. “Not the words I would use, but okay. Allura?”

Allura sat straight. “I agree, in a way. I’m sure the fact that he has no other published works will affect Daniel and get him in trouble. I don’t see any good coming from searching for Julián.”

Lance nodded. “What about the themes found so far? We have about three prominent themes that have come up so far…”

Keith felt himself zoning out already. He was able to follow everything pretty easily, but he was so bored. He didn’t get literature. He didn’t understand why people would sit in a class, like everyone here, and discuss the importance of why there was only one street light working in the middle of the night as someone was approached by a mysterious figure. Maybe it was because the others were dead since no one wanted to fix them. Or it could be because the author realized there was no light source besides the moon and sometimes that isn’t enough. Or the author just wanted one light to be there. None of it made sense to him. Keith just stared at the screen and did his best not to fall asleep.

He let his mind drift off. He found himself staring at Lance most of the time. He watched the way he spoke about the book. How he seemed much more in his element than when he sat in the coffee shop. How he was more confident and hit point after point. The way he held himself – taller, more pride, and with purpose.

He stood up when Allura started packing up. Keith couldn’t have been eager to leave. Allura walked down to talk to Lance and Keith groaned internally. He just wanted to get out of there and back to his apartment.

Lance looked at Keith and smiled. “What did you think of the lecture?”

Keith was caught off-guard. “It was…easy to follow. Good.” He nodded as he looked away from Lance.

“Keith and reading don’t really get along,” Allura said when she saw Lance’s confused expression.

“Oh. Well it is a good novel. You can borrow my copy to read it.” Lance dug for the book in his bag.

Keith stared at the out-stretched book wide-eyed. As much as he didn’t want to accept it, he gingerly took it. “Thanks…”

“No problem. You can keep it as long as you need to, I have another copy.” Lance jutted his thumb over his shoulder to a copy that was sitting on the desk.

Allura made plans to meet up with Lance later as Keith flipped through the book. He saw Lance’s messy writing scrawled in the margins of the pages and on sticky notes. Keith smiled inwardly as he differentiated the new notes, from the old. It seemed so…Lance.

“Ready, Keith?” Allura asked, nudging his arm.

Keith looked up from the book. “Huh? Oh yeah. I’m ready.”

Allura grabbed his arm and pulled him out of the lecture hall when he didn’t start moving. He waved at Lance who waved back.

“You were bored, weren’t you?” she asked without any hesitation as they made their way back to her apartment.

“Was it that obvious?”

She moved one hand off his arm, but kept the other hooked. “Not to him, but to me it was. You were going cross-eyed trying to stay awake.”

Keith didn’t try to deny it. He was bored.

“He really does want to be your friend. Trust me. He’s just a little…dense.”

Keith stared at Allura. He never knew her to be one to judge other people. “That is the understatement of the century.”

She chuckled. “Please just promise that you’ll try. He needs this just as much as you do.”

“He needs to be tortured too? Good to know I’m not alone.”

“Keith, please,” Allura pleaded.

He sighed. “Okay, I’ll try.” The words left his mouth before he had a chance to process.

She gave him an awkward side hug. “Thank you so much!”

They walked in silence as Keith thought about it. He could be friends with Lance and keep his distance at the same time. He’s done that with people before. Given, he didn’t necessarily like those people, but he was still able to do it. Maybe he said yes out of his own selfishness. He got to see Lance more often. Even if it was a one-sided relationship, it was better than nothing.

Someone deep inside, Keith knew this was a bad idea. He knew he would regret this decision, but he couldn’t turn back now.

He dropped Allura off and headed back home. Pidge was probably home by now too. Keith took this time to clear his mind. Being friends wouldn’t be that bad. It’s not like they would always be together. Lance was busy anyways, grading, studying for his own classes, writing. It would be easy for Keith to rarely see him. Besides work.

He always comes in on Saturdays to write or grade. When he concentrates, his eyebrows and nose scrunch up. His glasses always fall slightly when his expression returns to normal and it takes him a minute to realize his glasses are slipping. Sometimes when he takes a break, he rests his glasses on his head and forgets they’re there. And then he starts to look everywhere for them, only to either have them fall back down, or running a hair through his hair and almost knocking them to the floor.

Keith smiled at the thought of Lance working. He looked down at the book and promised to try his best to read it. Even if it kills him. He wanted to be able to talk to Lance about this stuff one day, and show him that he’s more than an engineering nut. Although, that really was what Keith was. But Lance didn’t know that.

Keith shook his head. This was not what he wanted to think about. He didn’t want to think about ways to impress Lance because he honestly doubted Lance would be impressed by him. He had one goal: be friends with Lance while doing the bare minimum. He could do this.

He opened the door to his apartment and placed the book on the counter.

“You’re home. I was wondering where you disappeared to,” Pidge said from their room. They walked out wearing one of Keith’s hoodies and leggings.

“Eric wanted me to go to Lance’s lecture. I went with Allura.” Keith hopped up onto the counter next to a bag of groceries. He began to rummage through it and pulled out a bag of grapes.

Pidge raised an eyebrow. “Oh, did you? And how was it?”

“Boring as hell.”

“But you didn’t leave?” they stated.

“Not until the end.”

“Because you got to look at Lance?”

Keith popped a grape into his mouth. “Because it would have been rude.”

“Riiiight. Rude. That’s what we’re going with.” They walked over and grabbed the book next to Keith. “What’s this? New fire wood?”

“I don’t think Lance would appreciate if you used his book to start a fire. We don’t even have a fireplace…”

“That was the – I shouldn’t have to explain the joke to you. You never read, so why do you have a book?”

“Lance gave it to me. It’s the book they just started. He told me to read it or something.”

“Or something,” they repeated in a mocking tone. “You know, he never loans anyone his books, especially one that’s seen this much love.” Pidge held up the worn out book.

“He told me that he has some notes on the side which should make it easier to follow. But it’s gonna take me forever to finish it. With or without the notes.”

Pidge looked at the book and back at Keith. “I’m just saying…he never loans out his stuff. Consider yourself lucky.” They put the book back down and left Keith to eat his grapes on the counter.

* * *

Lance had been trying to find the right time to talk to Keith for the last two days. Keith wasn’t lying when he said that he was super busy. He was constantly moving between costume and hair and makeup and filming scenes. When he wasn’t filming, Lance was. He couldn’t understand why the universe was working against him so much.

He managed to talk to Nyma just fine. She seemed apologetic about putting Lance in that situation but didn’t mention anything about letting it go. From what he gathered, she had been modeling for quite some time, but she still remained an unknown model who worked for small clothing brands. She was grasping at straws at this point for publicity and now that the media had caught wind of this “relationship”, she slowly began to get more go-sees. Lance knew that asking her to give this up wasn’t an option, so he was meeting with Gina again to discuss possible ways of ending it. But his main concern was Keith who didn’t interact with him off-set.

Lance stood outside of Keith’s dressing room, suddenly nervous. He felt his mouth go dry and couldn’t find his words. Just before he knocked, the door swung open and Keith almost walked into Lance.

“Hey,” Keith said, staring at Lance with wide eyes. He was so close, Lance knew that he could hear his heart pounding.

“Hi.”

They both stared at each other not saying anything. Lance took a step back and cleared his throat. “I know you need to get to the studio to work on your album, but I was hoping I could talk to you for like five minutes.”

Keith nodded and closed the door behind him. “The tables outside?”

Lance turned on his heel and led the way. He didn’t say anything as they walked, using the time to collect his thoughts and mentally preparing himself for the worst-case scenario.

They sat down across from each other and Lance didn’t waste any time. “So you know about Nyma. It’s not real.”

Keith raised his eyebrows, but said nothing.

“Her management is using me to help her become more well-known. I didn’t even agree to this, hell, I just found out about it. Which is why I was surprised when you brought it up the other day. I talked to her, but it doesn’t seem like she’s willing to back out of this, so I’m meeting with Gina to figure out what to do… I just wanted you to know the truth. Everyone else on set knows.” Lance was searching for some clue as to how the news affected Keith, but his face gave away nothing.

Keith glanced down at his hands in his lap. “I’m sorry for what I said then –“

“Hey, you didn’t know. I would’ve done the same if I were you.”

Keith looked back up, surprised. “You would?”

“Maybe not the same way, but yeah. You’re my – close friend and I would want you to be the first person to know if you were in a relationship.” Lance almost slipped up. He didn’t know why he was so bad at talking to Keith when he was a top notch actor. He should have better control over his emotions. Or so he thought.

“Uh…yeah.”

“So that’s all.” Lance stood up. “I know you need to get going.”

Keith stood up and grabbed his bag. He walked outside the set building to the parking lot where his car was. Lance walked with him, his hand buried deep in his pockets.

The silence between them was killing Lance. “So, how’s the album coming?”

“Great. I’m really excited for this one. I’ve been working with Matt a lot and he’s super easy to bounce ideas off of. Actually, because of him, we’re ahead of schedule. I want to keep it up so everything is done before the deadline and I can focus on this – the movie – after releasing the album.”

“Touring after that?”

Keith nodded. “Yeah. Right after filming actually. I get a week off and then we start in Europe.”

“Sounds exciting. Maybe I’ll be able to see you live this time.”

“What?”

Lance realized he never told Keith he was a fan of his music. Nor did he ever mention the fact that he couldn’t see him in concert the last time because of his work schedule. Nor would he ever tell anyone about how much he moped around for weeks after that. “Oh, I wanted to hear you live. I mean, I hear you on singing on set all the time, but listening in concert is something else. Just wanted the experience.”

“Yeah, I’ll let you know the dates once they’re finalized. If you end up filming, let me know and I’ll see if I’m playing anywhere near you.”

Lance felt his heart skip a beat. “Thanks.”

Keith opened his trunk and tossed his bag in there. Lance saw a gym bag, a smaller case, probably for a ukulele, and a giant bag of soil.

“Are you like…burying a body? Actually, don’t tell me. I’ll be an accessory to murder.” Lance held out his hands and looked away. Jail wasn’t a good boost for his career. But if it got Nyma to break off their ‘relationship’….

Keith laughed. “No, it’s for my dad. He’s making a new garden again and has been too busy to get it himself so I said I can get it for him.”

Lance let his arms drop to his sides. “That’s a relief. I was concerned for a second.”

Keith shook his head, the corner of his lips slowly turning up. He closed his trunk and turned to Lance. “Any idea what you’re gonna do about Nyma?”

“Nope. I might just state something about it. Not sure. It’s not like we have a contract, but I don’t want to do something that will permanently damage her career.”

Keith couldn’t stop the smile on his face from growing bigger. Something he really admired about Lance was no matter how awful he was treated by the other person, he could never be rude to them, or be angry with them. He was a gentle soul, minus his ego. “Whatever it is, you’ll figure it out. I know you will.”

“Thanks.”

“Yup.” He walked around to the driver’s seat. “I’ll see you tomorrow. Get some rest.”

“You too.” Lance moved to the side and watched as Keith back out. “I actually wanted to talk to you about some later scenes, if you had the time before we filmed them. I had something I wanted to work out with you,” he shouted, hoping Keith could hear him through the windows.

The window rolled down and Keith stuck his head out. “I’m sorry, what was that?”

Lance opened his mouth and shut it. “Uh, you know what? It’s not that important. I’ll see you around.”

 Keith smiled and held his tongue despite his curiosity. “I’m glad we talked.” Lance nodded and stood there until the black car was no longer in sight. He didn’t know what he was trying to accomplish by bringing up the last scenes of the movie. He was in a good place, filming was going great. He couldn’t ruin everything because of his own wants and selfishness. He needed to figure out his feelings and put a cap on them before he messed up what little relationship he had built with Keith already.

“I need a drink…”


	7. Act 7: It's just coffee

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So my beta might be slower than usual since I have another three fics in the works, so please bare with me. Also, there will be a group interview coming up so if anyone has questions for the 'actors' let me know on here or on my tumblr!

* * *

_Scene I_

* * *

 

Allura groaned as she reread the short story in front of her for the fifth time as Lance walked in. She crossed her arms and sat back into her seat, wishing that the story would evaporate. He found her easily once he noticed half the people in the coffee shop staring at her.

He took a seat across from the frustrated student. “I don’t think it’s possible for you to intimidate a story enough for it to run away.”

Allura sighed. “I don’t get it.”

“What do you need help with?” Lance leaned forward and rested his elbows on the table, glancing down to see the title.

“Okay, so the main character slowly descends into madness. But I don’t really see the grotesque theme behind it.” She pushed the story over to Lance.

“The Yellow Wallpaper.” He nodded. “Well, during this time period, mental health was treated differently. So if you look at how she was treated as her mental stability destabilized, she was forced to stay in the house where the partial cause of her insanity originated. This itself can be viewed as a grotesque element, paralleling how women were treated back then.”

“But how is that grotesque? I see it as cruel, not horrifying…”

“Think of it this way, when trying to face this ‘person’ trapped in the wallpaper, she ended up tearing the wallpaper off the entire room in an attempt to set the figure free.” Lance raised an eyebrow. “That person she was trying to set free could be view as her inner emotions. Sure she went insane, but read it as if that person trapped in the wallpaper was the embodiment of what she truly wanted. She set that person free the way she wanted to be set free.”

Allura nodded and made some notes on the margins of the paper. Brian interrupted the two by placing down two coffee cups on the table.

Allura looked up, half excited, half surprised. “Keith’s making the drinks today?” She eagerly picked up her cup and started drinking after blowing on it a little.

“Yeah, it got a little busy earlier and he’s faster at making the drinks than I am. A lot of people like his coffee too –“

Allura put her cup down. “Seconds please!”

Brian took the cup and chuckled. “I’ll let Keith know.” He glanced down at the empty cup, startled. “How did you not burn your tongue?”

“It’s slowed down, why didn’t he go back to the register?” she asked, wiping her mouth with a napkin. “And it wasn’t that hot.”

“It’s keeping his mind off of the competition. He wants to get this right in order to win, for –“ Brian shut his mouth. “I’ll get that drink…”

Allura grabbed the back of his shirt. “What competition and for who?” she asked curiously.

“That engineering competition?” Lance asked.

Brian shook his head, giving Lance the ‘keep quiet’ look.

“ _What_ engineering competition.” Allura looked between the two. She hated when people kept secrets from her. She was good at keeping them, but the fact that Lance knew something about Keith that she didn’t made her feel a bit jealous and annoyed.

Brian sighed, knowing he wouldn’t be able to leave this conversation without spilling the beans. “Pidge, Hunk, and Keith are partners for the final in your dad’s engineering class. He saw them working on an arm for Shiro and entered them in a national engineering competition. The committee accepted their application. Their overall goal is to improve prosthetics for everyone, children and adults, in order to find a way to make it feel more natural.”

Allura stared at Brian as her face broke out into a grin.

“Well, that’s certainly noble,” Lance said. He didn’t know many details of the project, so this was new to him.

“Why didn’t anyone tell me?” Allura asked. She wore a small pout and sat back in her chair.

“It’s for Shiro, and everyone knows how well you can hide things from him.” Brian shrugged.

“No, I swear I won’t tell him. This is Keith’s secret to tell.” She looked passed Brian at Keith who was handing someone a drink with a smile.

Brain look behind him in the same direction. “He said, ‘it’s the least I can do for him’ as if he hasn’t done anything.” He rolled his eyes.

“Shiro’s a great man. He deserves some more kindness.” Lance relaxed in his seat.

Allura frowned. “And Keith has done more than anyone would have expected. He shouldn’t sell his deeds short.”

“You know what he tells people.” Brian cleared his throat. ‘I just helped with the bills when Shiro was in the hospital and helped him get better,’ he said, imitating Keith’s voice. “Anyways, I need to get back before he yells at me for trying to slack off,” he continued in his normal voice. “I’ll bring that new coffee for you.”

“Have Keith make it please!” Allura shouted as Brian walked back.

Lance turned to Allura. “What’s the whole story?”

Allura didn’t even blink as she replied in a heartbeat. It was a story that was engraved in her soul at this point. “As you know, Keith is adopted. They were coming home from a trip and got into a bad accident. Their parents died on the spot. Keith woke up first and saw Shiro bleeding out. He tried to stop the bleeding as best as possible before getting out of the car and heading to the nearest town for help. It was a pretty dead road, so if he stayed there, it could’ve been hours until someone showed up. He saw some people several miles away from his family and they called 911 for him. If he hadn’t managed to stop the bleeding and find help, Shiro would have died as well. And then he goes and tells people he did nothing.” Allura let out a frustrated groan.

Lance looked over at Keith, speechless. He watched as he made a drink while laughing at a joke a customer made. “Wow…” he managed to choke out. “That – I…I don’t have words.”

“I know. I was pretty speechless when I first heard the story too.” She was proud to recount Keith and Shiro’s story, to see how much they cared for each other. The only downside to the story was how it was the turning point in the brothers’ relationship. She had never had the chance to witness it herself, but Pidge would tell her stories of what the four of them – including their brother, Matt – would be like when they were younger. She heard all sorts of stories ranging from pretending they were on the moon to building rockets from leggos to a simple game of tag. The one constant throughout all the stories were how close Keith and Shiro were. Now, all she gets to see are their fights and bad attempts at making up.

Lance continued to watch him. “I think I get it now…”

Allura glanced at Lance. “Get what?”

“Why so many people seem to like him so much…”

Allura raised her eyebrows. “And why is that?”

“He makes people feel safe.”

Allura smiled inwardly. She was glad he noticed that because she knew that’s all Lance was truly looking for. A place that made him feel safe. And if he found that with Keith…

“You should drink the coffee.” She pushed the lone cup forward. “Keith rarely makes the drinks anymore.”

“Why not?”

“He likes the register more. He also used to confuse the drinks when he started off so he just tried to stay away as much as he could. But his coffee is my favorite.”

Lance was confused. “Why? It’s just coffee.”

“There’s just something about _his_ coffee. He knows how to make the flavors…pop.” She packed up her stuff and stood up.

“Pop? It’s coffee, not colors in a painting.”

“You’d be surprised. I’ll see you later.” She headed over to Keith who had just finished making her drink and had it poured in a to-go cup. She walked out and Lance looked at his cup. He gingerly took one sip and immediately knew what Allura meant. He was so used to his instant coffee and the coffee he got on campus that he forgot just how great it could taste. Brian always watered it down a little as well since he knew some regulars didn’t like it too strong, but Keith made the drinks how he wanted to. The single sip made Lance happy – and he didn’t even understand why. The unusual rush made sense now.

He spent the rest of the time he drank his coffee watching Keith. Sure, he might have looked like a creep, but the story wouldn’t leave his mind. As much as he wanted to tell Keith that his project would be amazing, he stayed in his seat and just watched. He still didn’t know Keith that well and didn’t want to mess up any progress he made by saying something weird. He also didn’t know how Keith would react, and maybe someone else in his position would take the risk, but Lance stayed put and kept his thoughts to himself. He had been in too many positions in the past where he scared people away by saying what was on his mind, and he felt like Keith wouldn’t accept another apology from him at this point.

When the coffee was finished, Lance finally turned back to his work. He did his best to push the story out of his mind as he worked and concentrated on grading. It wasn’t that easy in the beginning, but after a few papers, his mind slipped back into work mode and he was able to concentrate on what he was doing. With all thoughts of Keith out of his mind, it was smooth sailing from then on.

* * *

 

Lance took the cup of coffee in front of him and took another sip. It was perfect. He needed to find out who made it and kiss their feet. He continued to sit in the seat as the crew began to pack up the lights on the set. He faced the window and closed his eyes, enjoyed the sun on his skin.

The coffee shop they filmed in was a cozy little place they found near the university they filmed at. All apartment scenes were filmed on a stage, along with any party scenes. He enjoyed working on and off stage. Sometimes he needed the fresh air and sunlight.

“Lance, I have some news for you.”

Lance opened his eyes and turned to the source of the voice. “Gina.”

His manager sat down where Allura previously was. He noticed Keith, Brian, and Allura gathering by the register, all of them watching him.

“You have a radio interview in three hours. It’s about thirty minutes, but it might a little longer. I am going to restrict your conversation topics, no speaking about the movie. You have a bad habit of spoiling things, so you cannot talk about it. Anything else is on the table. I won’t tell you what to say about certain topics, just answer the way you think it should be answered. You have another interview, a group interview with the cast in a few days, so be ready for that. Get that coffee to go and meet me by the car in ten. We have a shoot after the interview and the photographer will leave if we don’t start within ten minutes of the scheduled time.” Gina got up and straightened her jacket. She nodded at the other who waved back.

“What happened? Any news on Nyma?” Allura asked when Lance joined them.

He handed the coffee to an actual barista, who dumped it and began to make a new one. “No, I just have an interview and shoot to do today.”

“You know about the group interview, correct?”

“Yeah, she just told me about that too.”

Allura nodded. “Well, hopefully you can clear some stuff up in this interview and we can focus on the movie in the group interview.”

“What do you think the reaction will be once everyone finds out Keith and I are the leads and not you and Shiro?”

Allura laughed. “I’m quite interested in that myself. You and Keith make an interesting couple. This works for Shiro too, since his career is become more global.”

Keith brushed of Allura’s comment, much easier than Lance liked. “He’s in Peru right now, right?”

“Close, Argentina.”

“He got the part?” Brian asked surprised.

Lance recalled Shiro talking about another movie he was interested in doing since it was much different from what he was used to doing. It was a racing movie, but it took place in South America. He remembered how Shiro started speaking in fluent Spanish on set and how impressed he was. Lance also remembered the conversations the two had about Keith in front of him. He pitied Keith for being so utterly lost, but if Keith understood them, Lance would never be able to face him again.

Allura nodded. “I’m so proud of him. He’s been working so hard, but the time changes are starting to get to him.”

“It helps with our fight scenes. Shiro is too nice to argue with sometimes,” Keith said.

All three of them agreed.

The barista handed Lance a new cup of coffee. “Thanks. I better be going. I’ll see you guys tomorrow.”

They exchanged their goodbyes and Lance headed out to the car where Gina was waiting.

* * *

“Welcome back everyone. I’m your host Mike and today we have a special guest in the studio. Lance is here!”

Lance smiled even though none of the listeners could see him.

“How have ya been? Busy?”

“Yeah, working on some exciting stuff, some of which you know about.”

“Of course. The movie that basically no one knows anything about. It’s very hush-hush, isn’t it?”

“It really is, Mike. Can’t speak about it.”

Mike grinned. “But, you can tell me, your friend, something? Right?”

Lance grimaced. “Nope. Not even you.”

“Aw man. Okay, I get it. But what about your new girl? What’s the sitch?”

Lance knew this was coming. He let out a dry chuckle. “Uh, there’s nothing to really say about it.”

“Holding out on us about that too?”

“No, there’s literally nothing to say. The pap caught a few controversial pictures and made a story about it.” He knew that this might not be the best route to take, but he didn’t want to drag it on into something bigger than it currently was.

“Wait, let me get this straight. You’re currently single?”

“Yup. Nyma is a friend, but nothing more than that.” Lance was hoping that this was enough to help her out.

Mike nodded slowly. “I was really hoping I could get something juicy out of you today, Lance.”

“Last time I checked, I wasn’t a steak Mike.”

Mike laughed. “You are beautiful though.”

“Thanks man. I work hard for this face.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, you can ask my sisters. They can confirm that my skincare routine is more intense than theirs.” Lance was glad he was able to move on from the topic without further questioning. It’s what he needed – to deny the rumors and move on from them.

“You live with one of them, right?”

Lance nodded. “My younger sister. She’s in college right now and it’s easier for her to live with me than to rent an apartment and it’s cheaper than getting a dorm.” The conversation moved onto his family and some childhood stories. Once his time was up, he got the affirmation nod from Gina and that’s all he needed to know that he didn’t mess up.

One interview down, one more to go.


	8. Act 8: Let mommy talk

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kay (in her notes for this chapter): "there goes a nice trash can said no one ever"
> 
> Thanks for being patient!!

* * *

_Scene I_

* * *

 

Keith crossed the finish line and slowed down from his brisk run to a regular walk. He moved around with his hands clasped behind his head, trying to bring his heart down back to normal. After a few moments of pacing around, his breathing normal without panting.

Lance held out a water bottle for him and smiled. Keith took the water bottle from him and thanked him. He took a few sips before pouring the rest in his hair. Lance handed him a towel. He took that as well and wiped his face.

“How long was that?” Lance asked. He didn’t know much about cross country, other than that it was a huge race and was over a large distance.

“Just five miles.”

Lance raised his eyebrows. “Well I certainly wouldn’t have lasted that long.”

Before Keith had the chance to say anything, Eric jumped on his back. “Another meet, another win!” he shouted from on top of Keith.

Keith chuckled and shoved Eric off. “Lance, this is Eric. Eric, Lance.”

“Oh, so this is Lance,” Eric said with a slight smirk.

Lance extended his hand. “Uh, hi.”

Eric shook his hand. “I didn’t mean it in a bad way. I’ve heard a lot about you. Being the only undergrad TA who’s basically teaching his own class.”

Lance nodded. “It’s only for a month or so. Coran is almost back from the conference.”

“You aiming for his job? Or even Thace’s?” Eric nudged Lance’s arm with his shoulder and wiggled his eyebrows.

“No, not _their_ jobs. But one day, maybe.”

“Managing two classes and the grading, along with your own classes and studying…you don’t have much free time, do you?” Eric was a huge people person, but it didn’t mean he could understand social ques very well.

“I don’t. I try to have a day to myself though, where I can just unwind and relax. Keeps me from going insane.” Lance fixed his glasses and looked around at the other runners to avoid further eye contact. As uncomfortable as he was, Lance knew that he needed to get used to situations like these and was doing his best to be polite and social.

“Okay, I think that’s enough questions. You’re going to end up scaring him off, Eric.” Keith began to push Eric towards the coach when Lance spoke.

“I don’t mind. It’s fine Keith.”

Eric grinned at the way Keith was trying to take care of Lance. He thought it was adorable how Keith didn’t want him chasing away Lance before anything could happen.

Keith reluctantly let go of Eric and let him talk to Lance more.

“So how exactly did you get your job? I’m curious as to the qualifications.”

“Oh, there wasn’t much. You just need a good GPA and show that you can handle the work given to you.”

“And your 4.0 sealed the deal.”

Lance grimaced. “Yeah, kinda.” He knew that a lot of people knew how well he did in his classes, but he wasn’t one to enjoy bragging about it.

“That’s pretty cool. So what do you do in your free time?”

“I mostly just read and cook. I don’t really have much free time to begin with.”

“That’s cool! Keith here is allergic to reading himself, but he’s a pretty decent cook.” Eric looked at Keith with a teasing grin.

Keith rolled his eyes. “I wouldn’t take what he says too seriously, seeing as he _can’t_ cook.”

“Hey! He didn’t need to know that!”

“Oops, did I say that out loud?” Keith asked mockingly.

Eric pouted. He went on about how he trusted Keith, but never again would he make that mistake. Lance watched the two, unsure about the feeling inside him. It was a warmth which he hadn’t felt in a long time. He used to be like this with Hunk, but now, they mostly fought. He wanted to have this again with his best friend, yet he didn’t think it was possible anymore. Lance ruined that hope a long time ago.

“How long have two known each other?” he blurted out. He didn’t normally interrupt conversations like this, but his curiosity won over.

Eric, who currently had his arm around Keith’s neck, trying to give him a noogie, looked up and grinned. “Since fifth grade!”

Keith groaned. “That was so long ago…”

“We’re old folk now.” Eric let go of Keith.

Lance looked around, now that all the runners has crossed the finish line.

“Stop acting like my mom,” Keith whispered to Eric.

Eric smirked. “Shhh, let mommy talk.”

Eric turned back to Lance. “Are you from around here Lance?”

Lance snapped back to the two. “I have a small place near campus. It’s walking distance, maybe fifteen minutes?”

“You live by yourself?”

“I have a cat, Blue.”

“What about your family.”

Keith sensed a shift in Lance’s mood. He noticed a stiffness that took over his body and an unreadable expression on his face. “They don’t live near-by.”

“Do you have siblings?”

“A brother and sister.”

“And where are they?”

“I’m not sure, I need to go now. It was nice meeting you Eric. I’ll see you around Keith.” Lance walked away before the two were able to reply. His lips were pressed together in a tight line and he tried not to frown.

“I told you to stop!” Keith said when Lance walked away.

“What? I thought family was a safe topic…”

Keith shook his head and ran after Lance. His legs felt like jelly, but he knew that if he ran, he would be able to catch up to him faster. “Lance!” he shouted when he got close to him.

Lance stopped walking and turned. “Keith?”

“I’m sorry about Eric. He’s a really talkative person.”

“I gathered. It’s fine, he seems nice enough.” Lance shifted his weight from one foot to another and had to places his hands in his jacket pockets to stop from playing with his zipper. He replaced his usual button down and sweater with a simple long sleeve shirt and windbreaker. This was the closest to casual clothing Keith had seen him in and Keith did his best not to stare.

Keith could tell Lance wanted to leave. “I’ll let you go then…But he has a good heart. Eric just doesn’t know when to stop.”

“I uh…” Keith, who had begun to walk away, stopped and looked at Lance. “Actually can you…” Lance was having some trouble forming his words.

“Yeah?”

Lance ran a hand through his hair and sighed. “I’m sorry, family is just…an iffy subject with me and I just…I don’t know. I panicked. I’m panicking right now and I just –“ Lance shut his eyes tightly.

Keith turned to fully face Lance again. “Hey, it’s fine.”

“I’m trying,” he breathed out.

Keith placed a hand on Lance’s shoulder and gave it gentle squeeze. This action caused Lance to open his eyes again. “I know, but don’t force yourself if you aren’t comfortable. I understand.” Keith gave Lance a warm smile.

Lance didn’t know what to say. “I…” He shut his mouth. Was it really possible for someone to be this kind to him? He truly felt safe around Keith, that much he was sure about. “Thank you. It means a lot.”

“You’re welcome,” he replied, the smile never wavering.

Lance placed his hand on top of Keith’s, and Keith felt like he stopped breathing. “I know I can be a lot to deal with so your understanding is really quite meaningful.”

Keith’s heart started beating faster. “N-no problem. Making new friends can be hard.”

“You wouldn’t believe how hard it’s been for me.” Lance took a deep breath and removed his hand from Keith’s. Keith took his hand back, feeling a little better.

“I actually need to get going. I need to feed Blue before he gets mad at me for ‘forgetting’ again. Thank you Keith.”

Keith let out a small laugh. “It’s not a problem.”

Lance was happy that thing had worked out with Keith. He gave him a warm smile, something almost no one had seen from Lance. Keith knew that he had a nice smile, but this…Lance’s smile could truly light up a room. “I’ll see you around.”

“Yup.”

Lance waved at Keith and headed back home. He placed his hands back in his pockets. Keith watched he walked away. He looked so lonely. Keith wanted nothing more than to hold his hand and walk with him back home. He knew he couldn’t do that though. They were friends. That’s all.

He let out a heavy sigh. “This is turning out to be –“

Eric, who had seen and heard the whole thing, appeared behind Keith, silently. “So, you still crushing on him or what?”

“Fuck Eric!” Keith placed a hand on his chest.

Eric cackled. “Sorry.”

Keith glared at him in response.

“But what’s turning out to be what?”

“Nothing,” Keith muttered under his breath.

Eric held his arms out. “You know, it’s good to share your feelings with close friends.”

“I’ll let you know if I see any.”

“You wound me, Keithy.”

“I don’t care.”

The two bickered back and forth like this as they walked back to the rest of the team. Keith glanced over his shoulder once to find Lance had disappeared from his sight.

* * *

_Scene II_

* * *

 

Keith had just gotten out of the shower when his phone started ringing on the dinner table. He looked down and saw Lance calling him.

He answered without having to think about it. “Hello?”

“Hi, it’s Lance.”

Keith chuckled. He found it adorable how Lance stated who he was even with caller ID. “I know. What’s up?”

“Oh right.” Keith could hear some hesitation in his voice. “I may have cooked too much food out of stress and I would normally invite the others over for a spontaneous dinner, but they’re all busy. Are you free?”

Keith felt himself clam up. Spontaneous dinner was not a part of his 3 step plan.  
1\. Engage with Lance.  
2\. Be Lance’s friend.  
3\. Keep feels to a minimum.

Seemed basic enough. “Y-yeah. I am.”

“Would you mind coming over? I don’t really have the space to store most of this… My fridge is really dated and I’d rather only keep the necessities in there for no more than a day. You’re not allergic to anything, are you?”

“Uh, no.”

Lance let out a sigh of relief. “Great, I’ll text you my address. Come over whenever you’re ready.”

“Okay, yeah.”

“See you soon.”

“See ya.” Keith ended the call and felt more nervous than he’d ever been. What did he just agree to, and why?

* * *

_Scene III_

* * *

 

Keith stood outside of Lance’s door. He hadn’t worked up the nerve to knock yet, and frankly, he wanted to run the other direction. Keith let out a breath of air and shook his hands.

“Okay Keith, just a dinner. Nothing else. No hidden meanings. He made too much food. You’re being used as a trash can. That’s what you are. A trash can. Yup.”

He took a deep breath and knocked on the door. He heard Lance shout something that sounded like he said it’s open, so Keith decided to try his luck. He turned the door knob and pushed the door open. He walked in and closed the door behind him. He was greeted by a small living room filled with books. There were books everywhere. If Keith didn’t know this was Lance’s house, he would’ve mistaken it for a messy library.

“Lance?”

“In the kitchen!”

Keith walked around carefully, doing his best to avoid stepping on the random papers scattered on the ground.

“You know it’s not safe to leave the door open like that, right?” Keith looked up at Lance who was standing in his very dated kitchen.

He understood what Lance meant when he said that he didn’t have the space in his fridge to keep the extra food. It was just a few steps above a mini fridge. But if he was only feeding one person, it made sense that he didn’t need much space. His stove was an old gas stove, with enough space for four medium sized pots.

Lance’s back was facing Keith as he finished up cooking. “No one visits and after I call someone, I leave it unlocked in case I get wrapped up in something,” he explained as sliced some bell peppers and olives for the salad. “Most of the time, it’s locked.”

Keith watched as Lance moved around his kitchen. It was like he was doing a dance around the kitchen and Keith couldn’t stop watching. It was obvious to Keith, if the classroom was Lance’s home, the kitchen was his hidden villa – his secret getaway. There was so much more to Lance than what most people knew, and as much as Keith didn’t want to be in this position, he knew he was falling quickly. Maybe a little too quickly. He had to find a way to suppress his feelings or just make them go away because Lance may not have been those boys you were warned about growing up, but all Keith could see was his heart breaking in the end.

Something rubbed against his leg and pulled him out of his thoughts. He looked down at the Russian Blue who was weaving himself between Keith’s legs while purring.

Lance didn’t have to turn around to know what was happening. “That’s Blue. Don’t mind him.”

Keith reached down and picked up the cat. He held Blue in his arms and petted him as the cat nuzzled his head against Keith’s cheek.

Lance turned and smiled at the sight. “He likes you.” Keith just hummed in reply, not looking up from Blue. Lance tossed some vegetables in two small salad bowls.

He walked over to the table and started to quickly move all the papers, books, and his laptop off, trying to create space for their dinner. “Sorry of the mess…” he said sheepishly as he placed the bowls on the table.

Keith shrugged. “You’re a busy person. It happens.”

Lance smoothed his sweater and turned to Keith. “Anything you would like to drink? I have water…” His voice faltered after he realized where the statement was headed. “…or…water…”

Keith stopped petting Blue and placed a hand on his chin. He looked up as he thought about his choices. “That’s a tough one. I really like water…but _water on the other hand_.” He shook his head as he tried to decide which one he wanted more.

Lance laughed. It wasn’t a small chuckle that he would give in response to Chris in class, or one he would use when he was trying to be polite. It wasn’t the fake laugh he used when he didn’t find a joke funny, but didn’t want to be the only one not laughing. It was a genuine laugh – one that caught not only Keith, but himself, off-guard.

“Iced?”

“Yes, please.”

“Got it.” Lance took out two glasses and added ice to both before filling them up with water. Lance wasn’t lying when he said he made too much food, and now, Keith was thinking this was turning more into a date. He looked down at the cat in his arms and secretly begged for help.

“You can have a seat. Blue won’t bother us.” Lance was almost done setting the table.

“Where can I wash my hands?”

Lance tilted his head towards the sink. “There’s hand soap here.”

Keith nodded and washed his hands in the kitchen sink after setting Blue down.

Lance quickly checked on the pie in the oven. “Almost,” he said as he placed a timer for five minutes.

Keith stared down at his plate and repeated the same sentence in his mind. _Don’t fuck this up, Keith_. He was pulled out of his thoughts when Lance began to speak.

“I appreciate you coming on such short notice.”

“Oh, I wasn’t really doing anything.” He gave Lance a quick smile, and looked back down at his plate.

“Sorry to steal your evening.” Lance looked back at the timer right as it went off and took the pie out. He placed it on the counter and sat down at the table. “Now we can eat.”

“It wasn’t stolen. I was wasting away.”

“Wasting away on what, if you don’t mind me asking.”

They both began to eat, Keith making sure to remember not to talk with his mouth full. “I began on the design of the comp, but I wasn’t making any progress. So then I started reading the book but couldn’t really get into it, so I just ended up messing with my guitar.”

“You play?”

Keith nodded. “Yeah, I do.”

“A man of many talents. How far did you get in the reading?”

Keith looked away from Lance’s hopeful eyes. “Uhm…I’ve only gotten to chapter four…”

Lance nodded. “The first couple chapters are a bit slow and have a lot of information packed into them. It took me a while to get through those.”

“Sorry if I’m taking a long time. Just let me know if you need it back.”

Lance waved his hand. “I won’t. I have all the notes I need in the PowerPoints I made. Keep it as long as you need.”

“That might be a while then.”

Lance gestured to the books around him. “I have at least three more copies floating around here anyways.”

Keith looked around, amused by the small book stacks. “It brings a nice flare to the place.”

Lance stared at Keith, lacking the amusement Keith had. “My house looks like a bomb went off in a library.” Lance glanced around. “But I wouldn’t have it any other way. It’s…homey.”

Keith hummed, agreeing with Lance. Looking around, Keith found it hard to believe that someone as perfect as Lance could live in such a mess. A part of him understood that no one was ever quite as perfect as they seemed, and there was always something that wasn’t as perfect and controlled as everything else. For Lance, it was his house.

“It’s you,” he said quietly. Keith hadn’t realized he said the words out loud, but quickly felt okay when Lance continued talking, not hearing what Keith said.

“I’m fairly certain Allura has a mini heart attack every time she’s here.”

“Oh, I don’t doubt that.”

Lance looked back down at his empty bowl and chuckled softly. “Wouldn’t want her any differently though. This place would be much worse if it wasn’t for her instilling some of her cleaning routines on me.”

“How long have you known her?”

“Since freshman year of college.” Lance began to dig into the lasagna.

“And Hunk?”

“Freshman year of high school.” Lance began to eat. “Though, we lost contact around sophomore year till college.”

Keith did his best to not eat too much. He was hungry, but he didn’t want to look like a pig, especially in front of Lance. “You two seem close.”

“He’s practically my brother. Got me to apply here for school.”

“Were you not planning to?”

“I didn’t think I could.”

After his third bite, Keith couldn’t remain quiet. “This. Is amazing.”

Lance looked up surprised. He gave Keith a warm smile, the same one that Allura freaked out over. “Somehow, it still amazes me that people like what I make.”

Lance’s bright smile quickly turned into a sad one. “I…” he began. “How should I put this? I was homeless when I graduated high school. My family wasn’t very forgiving when it came to sexuality and being from a very Catholic family, I was shunned.”

Keith felt like he was listening to something he wasn’t supposed to. He didn’t want Lance to feel inclined to share his past with someone he just met. Keith had to fight the urge to get up and hug Lance. He sat there and watched as Lance’s face grew grimmer as he recounted his story.

“I was working at least two minimum wage jobs to afford books for school and was sleeping in a shelter. It was all I could do to keep my grades up. Somehow, I graduated with a 4.0 there, but I was still trying to find a way to live without being shoved from place to place. College just wasn’t on the radar.”

Keith’s mood quickly shifted from sorrow to pride. He looked at Lance and he was proud of him. Despite being kicked out and living on his own from an early age, he managed to become one of the smartest and most accomplished students on campus.

“Look at you now,” he said with a small smile.

Lance chuckled. “I know, on my way to becoming a college professor by the time I graduate at this rate. Hunk found me reading in an alleyway and somehow convinced me. Still don’t know how, but we managed to find me a full ride and a cheap place to live. And I’ve been here since.”

“I’m glad you listened to him.”

“Really? Allura says I have a terrible habit of not doing that…” Lance grimaced.

“She does? Why?”

“Well there was that one day when you were trying to talk to me while I was writing. I really was trying to have a conversation but it may have seemed like my attention was elsewhere. Then there’s the whole walking around with my nose in a book and nearly dying thing.”

“Oh that…my coworker thought you could’ve used a break, but I didn’t want to disturb you. The nearly dying _is_ problematic though,” Keith agreed.

“I should have taken one at that point, and yes, I realize that.” Lance laughed.

Lance looked at Keith’s empty plate. “You can have some more if you’re still hungry. Like I said, I’m trying to get rid of most of it.”

“I actually shouldn’t. The only time I fill up on carbs like this is the night before a meet. I can take it and give it to Pidge though. If you want.”

“Actually, yes. That would be wonderful.” Lance headed into his kitchen to look for saran wrap. Keith felt his eyes wander over Lance’s figure. He was tall and lean, with broad shoulders and –. Keith looked away. He should not be thinking about how good Lance looks in those pants.

“Tell me, how long have you known your friend group? Besides Shiro, I know he’s your adoptive brother.” Keith was thankful for the questions because it allowed him to think about something else.

“Oh, Pidge and Eric you know. I met Hunk freshman year in a physics class. And then I met Allura through Shiro when they first started dating. Those are the only ones you know, I believe.”

Blue hopped up on Lance’s shoulders and pawed at his glasses on top of his head until they fell onto his nose. “That’s where those went,” he muttered to himself.

He chuckled to himself when Lance’s glasses fell, finding the sight extremely adorable.

“Really?” he asked. “That’s nice. I met Pidge through Hunk when they made me help them with their English homework.” Lance walked around his kitchen with Blue on his shoulders as he cleaned up a little, still on his search for saran wrap.

“I apologize for anything Pidge has said or done that was hurtful or offensive.”

“Pidge is fine, they’re more like me than anything else, so we normally get along…”

“More like you?” Keith questioned. He didn’t think Lance and Pidge were that similar.

“Well, except for when I fail miserably in the social department, but I think that’s over for the most part. We both get absorbed in our work.”

Keith nodded. “I can vouch for that.”

“I have…Blue to vouch for me.”

Keith laughed. “I’ve seen you in the shop. I can vouch for you too.”

Blue meowed loudly in Lance’s ear. “Yeah, yeah, I know. Thank you for the constant reminder of me sometimes forgetting to feed you.” Lance turned his focus back to Keith and his search. “Ah well, that’s two.” He scratched Blue’s chest and turned to face Keith. “Here, can you cover the lasagna? I can put it in the fridge while we eat pie.” He held up aluminum foil.

“Do you want ice cream or whipped cream with your pie?”

“Nope, I’m okay.” Keith placed the lasagna in the fridge.

Keith took the slice of pie when he was done and saw Lance watching him as he took his first bite.

“If writing doesn’t work out, open a restaurant,” Keith said through the food in his mouth. He knew it wasn’t the most polite or attractive thing to do when someone invited you to dinner, but he couldn’t help it. The pie was amazing.

“I don’t think I’m that good.”

“I do,” Keith replied in a heartbeat.

“Isn’t Hunk the praised cook of our group? He has the personality for it.”

“You’ve definitely got him beat. In my books anyways.”

Lance was speechless. He wasn’t used to people praising his cooking, especially since he thought it was pretty simple. He didn’t really do anything too extravagant – he stuck to basic recipes. A small blush crept onto his cheeks. “Y-you really..?”

Keith hadn’t looked up from the pie in front of him. “Oh my god, yes. I don’t lie about food.”

“I…” Lance looked down at the pie on his plate and looked back up at Keith. “Thanks!”

Keith looked up at the sudden change in Lance’s voice and instantly looked back down. He was grinning at Keith and looking down, hints of the blush still remaining across his face. Keith took another bite and hummed.

“You can take some to give to Pidge as well.”

“You sure?”

“I’m not going to eat it. Most of the time, I’m living off of the vegetables I’ve grown and fruits I get from the store. Once a week, I splurge and get meat for a night.”

Keith took in the new information. It explained why Lance was thin. “When you cook like this…you should experiment more.”

“I’m sorry? I don’t think I quite know what you’re getting at.”

“I mean, that sounds kind of boring? I’m nowhere near as good a cook as you are, but I’ll show you some time. When I host a dinner for you.” Keith quickly realized what he said and ate more pie.

Lance stared at Keith with wide eyes. He slowly smiled at him. “I think I’d like that. I’ve never really had anyone cook for…well just me before…” He was playing with his pie crust.

“There’s always a first time for everything. I should get going though. I didn’t exactly tell Pidge I was going out.”

“Ah. Don’t want to worry them.”

“Thanks for inviting me, I really enjoyed it – if you didn’t notice.”

“You’re welcome and I’m glad. I’m just trying to convince you I’m not the cold person a lot people make me out to be. I’m just…slow to warm up.”

“Yeah, it can be hard. You’re doing your best though and I appreciate the effort.”

“As long as someone sees I’m trying.”

Keith grabbed the food from the fridge and the pie that Lance had covered. “I’ll see you around then.” Keith walked to the door with Lance trailing after him. “Have a nice night. Get some sleep.”

“Will try, same for you.”

Keith headed out to the car as Lance leaned against the doorway, watching the retreating figure while petting Blue. Once Keith had driven off, he closed the door.

* * *

_Scene IV_

* * *

 

Keith placed the food from Lance on the counter in his kitchen.

“Where’d you go?” Pidge asked from the recliner.

“Lance invited me for dinner. He said he was stressed and made too much food.”

Pidge stared at Keith as he took out the food. “You had dinner. With Lance.”

“Don’t say another word.”

They turned their attention to the food being unpacked. “And you brought home food.”

“It’s for you.”

“Me? Is it even edible?” Pidge’s expression was one of disgust and horror.

“It’s better than Hunk’s.”

“What. No way. That’s not possible. No one is better than Hunk.”

Keith moved to the side, not looking at Pidge. “Try it.”

“Keith, why the hell won’t you turn around?” they asked while looking for a plate and a fork.

“No reason.”

“There’s no reason to be embarrassed by having a dinner date with your crush, who’s totally oblivious to it. Ooh, lasagna.”

Keith buried his face in his hands. “Just eat the food.”

Pidge took a bite and almost dropped the fork in their hand. “What. The. Actual. Fuck. Hunk, you’re retiring. Lance, you’re making my meals from now on.”

“The pie is even better,” Keith said, his voice muffled by his hands.

“There’s pie?!” Keith nodded. Pidge quickly scarfed down the lasagna piece they had on their plate and got a slice of pie. Pidge felt like they had died and been reborn again. “Oh my god, how did we not know this? Ooohh, we can get him to cook for Christmas!”

Keith let his mind wander back to the memory of Lance in the kitchen. He felt his face heat up again.

“You have it so bad, I feel sorry for you,” they commented after noticing Keith’s current condition.

Keith closed his eyes. “I know,” he groaned as he let his head fall back. “I should’ve made something up and not gone.”

“Please, you had the time of your life. If it actually goes anywhere, you get a boyfriend who can cook and maintain your diet.”

“It won’t go anywhere.”

“You keep saying that, but he invited you for dinner –”

“As a last resort.”

They continued as if Keith never spoke. “– and knowing him, he’s probably telling Allura or Hunk about it right now. My bet is on Allura. She’s better at the relationship thing than Hunk is.”

“I’m just…I’m going to bed.”

“Yay, more food for me! Night!”

“Night,” he replied emotionlessly.  Keith went to his room and quietly closed his door. He leaned back on his door, slid down, and hugged his knees. “Why did I agree to this?” he whispered to himself.

* * *

_Scene V_

* * *

 

 **Lance:**  So I had dinner with Keith  
**Allura:**  You did WHAT  
**Lance:**  I had dinner with Keith  
**Lance:**  I ended up stress cooking and had too much food  
**Allura:**  And it was just Keith?  
**Lance:**  You were with Shiro, Hunk was with Shay, and Pidge is still iffy  
**Lance:**  Just Keith  
**Allura:**  So like  
**Allura:**  A date~?  
**Lance:**  ?  
**Lance:**  How was it a date  
**Lance:**  I was just trying to get rid of food Allura  
**Allura:**  Okay  
**Allura:**  Think of it this way  
**Allura:**  You invited someone over and had home cooked food for them and you two were alone  
**Lance:**  Ok  
**Lance:**  Your point?  
**Allura:**  THAT’S A DINNER DATE LANCE  
**Lance:**  ……  
**Lance:**  Was I not supposed to do that?  
**Lance:**  I don’t even know if I want to date anybody  
**Lance:**  Allura  
**Allura:**  YOU DID SOMETHING ON YOUR – what?  
**Lance:**  What if I gave him the wrong…signals?  
**Lance:**  I don’t want to lead him on but…  
**Lance:**  …he makes me feel safe too…  
**Allura:**  Lance, why don’t you want to date?  
**Lance:**  I’ve been rejected my whole life allura, it’s a habit to be cautious  
**Allura:**  Did Keith hesitate to say no?  
**Allura:**  To coming over?  
**Lance:**  ...only slightly, but I think that was out of shock  
**Allura:**  Well, there’s your first sign that he won’t reject you  
**Lance:**  Sometimes I really dislike it when you make sense  
**Lance:**  But you’re right  
**Allura:**  I won’t force you to date anyone and I definitely won’t push you to do anything you don’t feel comfortable with, but just…think about keeping your options open  
**Allura:**  Just in case you change your mind later  
**Lance:**  I’ll…think about it  
**Allura:**  JJJJJ  
**Lance:**  Don’t tell anyone I told you. I don’t need Hunk coming down on me.  
**Allura:**  Promise

* * *

“Pidge, give Blue back to meeeee,” Lance whined with his arms stretched out.

Pidge turned their back to Lance and continued to play with the cat. “You live with Blue and I get to see him only when he comes to set. Lemme enjoy my time with him.”

“Piiiiiiiidge.”

“Go bother Hunk or something.”

Lance let out an exaggerated groan but left his dressing room none-the-less to find his friend. After asking around for a few minutes, Lance caught wind that he was with Keith. He wondered what the two could be up to since Keith had to leave for work soon. Once he got to the dressing room doors, Lance stood outside and listened for any sound.

“Did you download anything new?” Hunk asked.

“No, I have no idea where the virus came from.” From the sound of it, Lance assumed Keith was laying on his back and craning his neck up to look at Hunk. Was he working out? Should Lance even risk going in?

“Why are you standing outside the room like a creep?”

Lance jumped at the voice behind him. “Didn’t I just leave you in my room?!”

“Yeah but Allura stole Blue from me and Hunk texted me about a computer problem.” They pushed open the door and walked in.

Lance glanced inside to see what kind of compromising position Keith was in to determine if it was worth going in or not. What he saw was the last thing he expected.

Keith was lying on the ground with a small puppy on his stomach and was holding a chew toy above the puppy’s head.

“IS THAT A CORGI?!” Pidge exclaimed.

The puppy fell off of Keith’s stomach from shock and Keith sat up, placing the puppy back in his lap. “Yeah, I got him a few days ago. His mom gave birth to him in the shelter by my house so I asked if I could have him when he was ready to move away from his mom.”

Pidge kneeled next to Keith and stared in awe at the small little Corgi. “What’s his name?”

“Uh…You see…the thing is…” Keith scratched his upper lip and looked away from Pidge.

“What stupid name is it that you gave him? For the love of God, please don’t tell me you named him Pickles.”

Lance snorted from the door. “I bet he did. He wouldn’t be able to come up with anything better.”

Keith stared at Lance unamused before flipping him the bird. “I lost a bet with Shiro.”

“Oh no…” Hunk said. He had stopped working on Keith’s laptop to listen about the dog.

“His name is Kaltenecker. I call him Kalty for short.” Keith rubbed Kalty’s stomach. When no one replied, Keith looked up at them. Lance, Pidge, and Hunk were staring at Keith but he couldn’t read the emotion on their face. “What?”

All three of them started laughing. Pidge fell over, Lance was holding his stomach, and Hunk was wiping a tear from his eye. Keith just played with his dog while he waited from them to stop.

“ANYWAYS, I have a virus on my laptop, Pidge. You think you can fix it?” Keith asked, cutting them off.

“I should be able to.” They composed themselves and took his laptop from Hunk.

Hunk looked between Lance and Keith. “So, Lance. I heard the interview.”

Lance looked up at Hunk, surprised. “Did you?”

“So you and Nyma aren’t a thing?”

“Nope. It was my choice to put an end to the rumors though. I thought it was best for everyone if I didn’t have to keep up a fake relationship. Especially if she had to come visit set.”

Hunk nodded. “Good choice. Did you like her though?”

“Dude, I wouldn’t have ended it if I did.”

Hunk nodded again, but didn’t say anything. He looked over at Keith who was too busy playing with his new dog. Sighing, Hunk knew he would have to do more to help his friend out.

“Man, this is intense. I feel like you tried to fix it yourself,” Pidge said, taking off their glasses and cleaning them.

“Mhmm, I did. I stopped when I figured it would be safer if you tried.” Keith said from his resumed spot on the ground. He placed a pillow from the couch in his room under his head. Kalty was busy trying to rip the toy out from Keith’s hand.

“Wow, you have so many issues with your computer…why don’t you have an anti-virus software?”

Keith shrugged. “My computer’s a mess but I have a cute dog,” he sang as he held Kalty up as one does while reenacting Simba from the Lion King.

Pidge looked away from Keith, not being able to handle how cute the entire moment was. Even they had their limits.

Lance on the other hand, has stopped functioning. He walked out of the room wordlessly and went back to his room. He closed the door, thankful no one was in there, and screamed into a pillow.

Allura’s hand froze, hovering a few centimeters above the door handle. She looked down at Blue in her arm. “Maybe we should come back in a little bit.”

Blue meowed in response.


	9. Act 9: You’re just something else

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'M NOT DEAD. I want to apologize for taking so long with this chapter. I'm in India and the internet is so iffy here, on top of that, my beta's internet went out. I was expecting the chapter back next week, but she managed to get it back to me this morning. Or night...my sense of time is messed up. ANYWAY, here's the chapter. Enjoy~

* * *

_Scene I_

* * *

 

Keith fell to the ground without any concern of getting hurt once his heart rate slowed to normal. He collapsed onto his back, using his hands to shade his eyes from the sun.

“You okay?” Lance asked leaning over the exhausted boy, with a small smile.

“Can’t fee my legs…”

“How long was this one?” He handed Keith a water bottle.

“Seven.” He took the water, but didn’t move from his position on the ground. His body refused to move an inch.

“Much longer than I would ever last.”

Eric quickly jogged over to the two. “Did he die?”

Lance straightened up. “He’s still breathing.”

From his spot on the ground, Keith tried to kick Eric. He laughed and moved back one step, causing Keith to miss. He slowly sat up to prevent a rush of blood to his head and crossed his legs.

“You did great man. Another record,” Eric stated proudly.

“Does he set records a lot?” Lance asked curiously.

“Nearly every race.”

Lance looked back at Keith who was drinking water. “Wow.”

Keith shrugged and stood up. He accepted the towel that Lance offered him once again with a smile. “Thanks. I’m so grateful that I can just sleep all day.”

“Well, if you get tired of sleeping, I’m making dinner for me and Allura. You’re welcome to join. I think she’s bringing Shiro.”

“Than–“

“KEITHY YOU DID AMAZING!” A short girl with long, brown hair ran up and jumped on Keith’s back. Lance recognized her as the same girl Keith was speaking to in the coffee shop.

Keith stumbled forward a little bit and grabbed her legs which wrapped around his torso. “Hey Jennie.”

“Jennie, what about me?” Eric whined.

She raised an eyebrow, unamused. “I don’t see _you_ breaking any records.”

Keith grinned. “You gonna take that?”

“Do you know how hard it is with him around?” Eric grumbled as he poked Keith in the ribs.

“You all seem so close,” Lance said with a small smile.

Lance’s comment reminded Keith of his presence in the group. “Oh, Lance, this is Jennie. Jennie, Lance.”

Jennie held out her hand. “Nice to meet you, Lance.”

Lance shook it firmly. “You as well.”

Keith let go of his hold on her legs and Jennie got off his back. “Your coach wanted to talk to you.”

“Thanks. I’ll see you guys later then.” Keith walked over to where a few of the other members were with the coach.

Lance stayed with Jennie and Eric as Keith left them.

“So, Lance…I wouldn’t expect you to befriend Keith. You two are…” She looked at Lance carefully. “Different.”

Lance turned his attention back to her. She was a good head shorter than him, but he could tell she was a force to be reckon with. There was just a certain air about her. “Oh, well, we share the same group of friends, so it was bound to happen eventually.”

“And what do you think about him?”

“He’s a good guy.”

“That’s all? You’re like the smartest guy on campus. I expected a bit more,” she said, her eyes narrowing slightly.

“I…don’t know what else to really say. I don’t know much about him.” Now that Lance said it aloud, he realized how little he actually did know about Keith. Just a traumatic past and present family issues, but that was about it.

Jennie hummed, backing off. “Fair enough. You can ask us about anything if you want to know anything. I’ve known Keith since we were in diapers.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, really,” Eric said.

“Keith, Shiro, and I are family friends.”

It made sense since she seemed so close to him. “Oh. That must be nice.”

“Yeah, but we have all kinds of dirt on each other. It can easily backfire.” Jennie pouted.

“I bet,” Lance said with half a smile.

Eric clapped a hand on Lance’s back. “You’ll see soon enough if you stick around.”

Jennie watched Lance. “Lance, you know you have a nice smile?”

“I…I what?” He stared at Jennie with wide eyes and felt the blush creep onto his face.

“You have a nice smile! Like when you smile and mean it.” She turned to Eric. “And if he ever saw me and Keith mess with each other, he would be scared off.”

“Oh, uh…” Lance didn’t know what to say. His mind was still trying to process the sudden compliment.

“Sorry,” she said to Lance.

“No, no, it’s fine.” Lance didn’t really know what else to say, but didn’t want to risk an awkward silence falling over them. “I recognize you from the coffee shop…”

Jennie looked up at Lance, surprised by the sudden comment. “Oh yeah. I don’t go there too often since I never really need to go to that side of campus, but I make it my job to go at least once in a while. Gotta keep Keith on his toes.”

“When Keith first started working there, Jennie lost a bet with him and had to drink the sweetest drink he could think of. It’s become her regular,” Eric said trying not to show the disgust on his face.

“We like our coffee the way we like our alcohol,” Jennie began with her eyes closed and a hand on her chest. “You like yours bitter and strong, while I like mine sweet, masking the disgusting, natural flavor.”

Eric rolled his eyes and Lance grinned in amusement. Between all the students Lance ever was a TA for, he had never come across someone like Jennie.

Everyone’s attention shifted to Keith and Shiro, who were clearly trying to not make a scene. Lance hadn’t seen him earlier during the race, so he assumed he just got here. He could tell Keith was trying not to yell, but Shiro wasn’t helping him. Keith gave up and walked away, leaving Shiro calling after him.

“Are they okay?” Lance asked.

Jennie’s smile faded. “Not really… They used to be really close. Nowadays, all they do is fight.”

“Why’s that?” Lance was suddenly concerned for the two brothers. He never knew Shiro was having problems like this with his brother and was suddenly wondering how much Allura actually hid from him about her relationship.

“You know about Shiro losing his arm right?” Eric asked.

“Yeah, but what does that have to do with anything? Keith saved him right?”

Jennie sighed. “What exactly do you know about them?”

“That they were in a car wreck and Shiro was in bad shape and without Keith getting help, Shiro would have died. That’s all Allura told me.”

“That did happen. But Shiro lost his arm in that accident. Keith made the decision to use the money their parents left behind for their education to get him his prosthetic. Shiro was pissed off.”

Lance didn’t know what to say. “Well that would explain why Keith is on a scholarship and Shiro is working two jobs and taking part time classes.” Now he knew the full truth of Keith’s present problems.

“It’s the only way they can afford to go here now. Shiro didn’t talk to Keith for months. He wanted to get rid of his arm, but he couldn’t. It was basically the last thing from their parents. It was also the cause of the first of the many fights they have now…” Jennie looked at Shiro with sad eyes.

“I see. That’s…rather unfortunate. Family shouldn’t be like that.”

Jennie shrugged. “Yeah well, they can’t really hang out that long without fighting anymore. I know Pidge has tried to help them, but it didn’t work.”

Lance frowned slightly.

“I wouldn’t worry about it too much. I’m sure once they both graduate with their degrees, everything will clear up,” Eric said.

Jennie sighed. “I hope so…”

Lance wasn’t as optimistic. “Or it could fester and split the family further. Harboring feelings like this isn’t healthy, but it seems to me that they’re both too stubborn to see where the other is coming from.”

Eric looked at Lance. “You sound like you speak from experience.”

Lance gave him a grim smile. “You don’t know the half of it.” He looked at his watch. “Ah, well, I need to go. I promised at least Allura dinner tonight. It was nice to meet you Jennie, and to see you Eric. See you around!” Lance waved to both of them as he walked off without waiting for their replies.

Jennie leaned into Eric. “I doubt Keith will go to that dinner.” She made a disgusted expression and looked at Eric from the corner of her eye before stepping back away from him.

“True, but it doesn’t seem like Shiro wants to go now either.” Eric pointed at Allura and Shiro having a heated discussion.

“Should we try to help?”

“I don’t think it’s our place.” Eric tried to wrap his arms around Jennie.

She frowned and pushed his arms down. “I’m not hugging you until you shower.”

“Aww, c’mon. I smell like a meadow full of flowers.”

“You smell like the armpit of a garbage can.”

Eric smothered Jennie in a hug. “EWEWEWEWEWEWEWEWEW.”

Eric cackled. Jennie pushed him away. “Eric, go shower.”

“Okay, okay. Fine, I’ll shower. Since the princess demands it.”

Jennie rolled her eyes. She pointed in the direction of the locker room and watched as Eric walked off dejectedly.

* * *

_Scene II_

* * *

 

Keith had showered and was in bed when he got a text. He contemplated ignoring it in order to rest, but took a peek at the name to see who it was from. _Lance_. He opened the message without hesitation.

 **Lance:** So Allura and Shiro cancelled on me.

Keith sat up in his bed.

 **Keith:** What? Why?  
**Lance:** They didn’t say. Just said they couldn’t make it.  
**Lance:** Do you still want to come over?  
**Keith:** Yeah, I’ll come over  
**Lance:** Thank, Means a lot. (:  
**Keith:** Yeah, no problem.  
**Lance:** I’ll see you in a bit then

As Keith got out of bed to change, Pidge poked their head into Keith’s room.

“You going somewhere?”

“Shiro and Allura cancelled on Lance so I’m going over. Wanna come?” he asked as he took off his pajama shirt and changed into something that was randomly on his bed.

“Sure! His food is great.”

Keith reached for his phone and texted Lance, letting him know that Pidge would be coming over as well.

Keith sighed. “I feel bad Pidge…I think I’m the reason why they cancelled.”

“Well, Shiro is too proud to ask for help. Allura basically forces him to go to PT too,” they pointed out.

“Yeah, but I can’t have him finding out about the loans. He got close today and I can’t be the reason he and Allura get into a huge fight.”

“He loves her too much to leave, so no worries about a break up. But, yeah, she’s getting stressed.”

Keith raked a hand through his hair. “I’m scared. I don’t care if he never talks to me again, I just don’t want something to happen to them.”

Pidge grabbed his hand and dragged Keith to the front door. “Let’s get you some comfort food.”

Keith went willingly. “Keys?” he asked when they reached the parking garage, almost forgetting about them.

Pidge swung the keys around their index finger. “Wait.” They stopped walking in front of their car. “Do you know where he lives? Because I don’t.”

“Yeah, I remember.” Keith caught the keys they tossed to him and got into the driver’s seat. They drove to Lance’s place in silence, all the while, the nervousness in Keith grew. He finally pulled up in front of Lance’s house, scared to go inside.

“Keith chill. You survived the last time, and now I’m here. I’ll fill the awkward pauses.” Keith didn’t move. “Let’s go. I’m hungry.”

He slowly nodded and got out of the car. Pidge, on the other hand, ran to the door like an excited child. They burst through the unlocked door. “Lance! We’re here!”

“Hey! I’m in the kitchen. Careful of the books.”

Keith walked in and closed the door behind him. “You have another fan.”

Lance poked his head out of the kitchen. “Which did it? The pie, or the lasagna?”

“The pie. Definitely the pie,” they replied for Keith. He picked up Blue instead and began to pet the small feline.

Lance smiled and went back to cooking. “I’m almost done with the stir fry.”

Pidge walked over to Keith. “I can see why you like him. That smile, bro,” they whispered. Keith blushed in response as Pidge went into the kitchen. “This place is really homey. How’d you find it?”

“Hmm? Oh. Hunk helped me when I first started attending. Got a deal with the landlord to fix it up here and there and I got a discount on rent.”

“Really? Didn’t see you as the handy type.”

Lance chuckled. “No one really does, but you figure it out when you need to. I have a small green house in the back for the vegetables, so it keeps the costs down.”

“I’m sure if you need any help with anything, Hunk or Keith would be willing to help. They’re engineers after all.” Keith groaned to himself. He wished Pidge didn’t enjoy embarrassing him so much.

“I’ll keep that in mind. Nothing is really due to be fixed yet, but the fridge is worrying me…” He glanced at his sorry excuse of a fridge for a second before focusing back on the food.

“So what else do we have here for food?” Pidge asked, eyes following Lance’s.

“Uh, just some sticky rice and some sweet and sour sauce for the stir fry I made.”

Pidge was practically drooling. “Keith, we gotta come over every weekend for this.”

“I wouldn’t mind.” Lance smiled down into the pan.

“If you want, I don’t mind either,” Keith said, trying to hide his nerves.

Pidge cheered loudly, excited by the new plans. They looked between the two boys as they both smiled at each other. Keith quickly looked down at Blue when he saw Lance’s smile. Lance pulled the stir fry off the stove once it was finished.

“I’m gonna head to the bathroom. Where is it, Lance?” Pidge asked.

“It’s around the corner and past the closet.”

“Sweet, thanks.” Pidge followed the directions Lance gave them and left the two alone.

Lance waited to speak until after Pidge had left. “You know, I think you did the right thing for Shiro.”

“What?” Keith looked up confused.

Lance had begun to prep the table. “His arm, the prosthetic. You did the right thing. His life is better with one.”

“Oh, you know…” Keith went back to playing around with Blue. “He doesn’t think that.”

“I saw.” Lance didn’t want to recall the fight he witnessed, but his mind went against his wished. He grimaced, but continued. “Hopefully one day, he will.”

“At this rate, I’m not too sure.”

“Shiro is proud, and hates admitting to needing help. And getting help from his little brother of all things is a huge hit to it. But I understand. Older siblings have their complex.”

“It’s just…” Keith began to recount the event. “He was in a coma from the blood loss. We didn’t have any other family here. I used whatever money I could to pay the hospital bills at the time and the doctors told me that when he awoke, they could give him a prosthetic. I thought that would be the best thing for him so he didn’t have to struggle without an arm.”

Lance nodded. “I would have done the same thing. Just keep being there for him, it’s what I would do if I could.”

Keith had a faraway look in his eyes. “I’ve never seen him look more disgusted as when he heard what I did.”

“I’m sure he will get over it. He has to. What’s done is done.” He patted Keith on the shoulder. “Either way, you did the right thing. You’re a good man for it.” Lance went back into the kitchen for water glasses. Keith hadn’t been able to look up.

Pidge walked back into the room. “Everything ready?”

“Just about. Go ahead and have a seat. And Keith, you’re gonna have to put Blue down.”

“Right.” He put down Blue, who began to follow him as he went into the kitchen to wash his hands.

“The stir fry is peanut free, so feel free to have as much of it as you want.” He put the glasses on the table and began to serve the food.

“Thanks Lance!”

Keith took one bite and felt himself melt again – all his worries and insecurities disappearing. “You really outdid yourself, Lance.”

“No kidding,” Pidge said with a mouthful of food. “Where did you learn to cook like this?”

“Technically, I’ve figured it all out on my own. Got tired of living off of mac n cheese and spam.”

Pidge nodded. “Couldn’t blame you there.”

“So I learned a few things about gardening and watched a lot of cooking tutorials on YouTube. Since then, I’ve been doing everything by myself. Own recipes and stuff like that.”

“You’re just something else, aren’t you?” Pidge wasn’t one to admire other people, but in this moment, they couldn’t help but feel that way about Lance.

“…something else?”

Keith didn’t realize he had been smiling. “You really are…”

“I don’t get it? How am I something else? I’m just me.”

Pidge laughed. “Just a figure of speech, Lance.”

“Oh.” He laughed a little. “Slow on the uptake again.”

Keith was now resting his cheek in the palm of his hand, a lazy smile still plastered on his face. “It’s like saying you’re different, but a good different.” Pidge resisted the urge to comment on Keith’s current condition.

“Oh, that makes more sense.” Lance was busy checking the food levels to notice Keith.

Pidge rolled their eyes when they saw that Keith had stopped eating to stare at Lance.

“Feel free to have seconds, I have to thaw out the cheesecake for dessert.” Lance got up and went to the kitchen to do so.

Keith snapped out of it once Lance had left.

“Could you be any more obvious?” Pidge asked in a heated whisper.

“You don’t get how hard this is for me, but I’m trying okay? He’s just really oblivious and it helps,” Keith whispered back.

“No kidding, but goddamn…you were like day dreaming over there.”

Keith held back a groan. “I can’t help it.”

“Can’t say I blame you. He’s charming when he’s out of his books.”

“I’m going to die…”

The sound of glass shattering brought the two out of their conversation.

“Well shit,” Lance said to himself in the kitchen.

“Everything okay in there?” Keith asked, slowly getting up.

“Yeah, a glass just slipped and fell.”

“Did you get hurt?”

“Just a small cut.”

Keith walked over and found Lance with a paper towel wrapped around his hand as he searched his kitchen, pulling out a first aid kit. Keith walked over and unwrapped his hand, placing it under running water.

“I’m fine, I swear.”

“I wouldn’t say having you hand cut open is fine.”

Lance winced a little. “I just need a bandage. It’s nothing more than a scratch.”

Keith dried his hand and started to clean the cut. “Still don’t want to risk infection.” He finished cleaning and bandaged the cut. “All good now.” Keith looked up and didn’t realize how close he and Lance were. He took a step back and looked to see where the broken glass was.

“Thanks…It bounced out of the sink and I tried to catch it. I didn’t want Blue to get hurt from it landing on the floor and shattering more.”

“Of course, but don’t go hurting yourself in the process.”

“It wasn’t intentional…” Lance suddenly felt bad. He just wanted to make sure nothing would happen to Blue.

“Where’s the cheesecake?” Keith was looking at the broken glass on the floor.

“Uh, on the stove top, thawing.”

“Why don’t you go sit and I’ll take care of it.”

Lance was quick to reject his offer. “It’s fine, you’re my guest.”

“Serious Lance.” He turned Lance around and pushed him out of the kitchen.

“Keith, I can take care of it-“

“Nope. Go sit.”

“Keith, I-“

“Lance. Go.” Keith voice told him that there was no point in arguing anymore.

Lance closed his mouth and frowned. He saw that Keith had already began picking up glass shards from the floor. He sighed and went to sit, accepting the fact that Keith had taken over for the rest of the night.

“What happened?” Pidge asked.

“I knocked a glass into the sink and it shattered. I caught a piece before it hit the floor and cut myself.”

Pidge glance over at where Keith was. “I’m glad you’re alright for the most part. Keith taking care of the cheesecake then?”

Lance nodded. “It’s cookies and crème.” Lance was playing with the band aid on his hand.

“Don’t mess with it, you’ll make it worse.”

Lance shrugged. “It is a little painful, but I’ve had worse.”

Keith finished cleaning up the glass and ended up organizing the kitchen a little bit. He brought out the cheesecake with plates and forks and cut slices for all three of them. As Keith was cleaning, he found an old picture. Keith didn’t know who the couple in the picture was, but from the faded colors and the date in the corner, Keith had a feeling it might have been Lance’s parents. He still didn’t know much about Lance or his past and hoped that in time, Lance would trust him enough to tell him about it.

“Thank you, Keith,” Lance said. He was grateful for the care he was receiving, but still made him fell a bit awkward since he wasn’t used to it.

“Not a problem.”

“We can take left overs home again, right?” Pidge asked with a glint in their eye.

Lance raised an eyebrow. “Of course, I can’t eat all of this.”

“Awesome, you’re the best.”

“This is…” Keith looked at Lance. “Better than the pie. I didn’t think it was possible.”

“Way better than the pie,” Pidge chimed in. “What the hell Lance. Way are you going to be a writer and not a chef?”

“It’s not my passion. Writing is.”

“Cooking’s never made you want to throw yourself out the window?” Keith asked.

Lance stuck out his tongue. “I was just stuck on a particular part, normally it’s not like that.”

Pidge decided to chime in. “Oh, that’s rich coming from you Keith. I’ve actually seen you chuck a textbook when you got upset with it.”

“You what?” Lance laughed.

Keith pushed a part of the cheesecake around on his plate. “Stress from midterms.”

“And the then after finals, he burned some notebooks from those terrible gen eds.”

“You did that once too in high school.” Keith pointed his fork at Pidge. “You hated that one English teacher and burned all the books he made us read out of class. What was it? Anna Katrina?”

“Anna Karenina?” Lance asked.

“Yeah, that.”

“That book was confusing as fuck and the teacher did nothing but make it worse,” Pidge retorted.

Lance looked over to the stack of books where his copy was located. “It’s definitely not one of my favorites.”

“Then you know why I would burn it! Nothing needs to go on for that long.”

Lance raised his eyebrows. “I would beg to differ. The Sword of Shannara series was just as drawn out but it’s a critically acclaimed series, and Terry Brooks is famous for them. If you liked Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, they’re in the same genre.”

“Eh, maybe. Too busy with the engineering comp to read really,” Pidge replied.

“Yup…that’s what it is,” Keith said.

Pidge rolled their eyes. “Keith, you just don’t like reading, and it surprises me every time you’re reading that one book.”

“Oh? How far have you gotten?”

“Uh, chapter 6?” Keith couldn’t really remember.

“That’s great! Any thoughts yet?” Lance was smiling at Keith encouragingly and it was hard for Keith to look away.

“Um, it’s…slow?”

Lance nodded. “A lot of old books are like that.”

“Your notes are helping me though.”

“That’s good. The pace does pick up a bit more at some parts while Daniel is trying to figure out Carax’s secret.”

“Yeah.” Keith stood up, suddenly uncomfortable by the questions Lance was asking. Sure, he wanted to be able to have a scholarly conversation with lance on his level, but tonight was not the night. “Time to go, Pidgeon.”

“Do we have to?” they whined.

“Lance needs his rest.”

Pidge groaned. “Lance, can we stay the night? I’m too tired to move.”

“I…don’t really have space for guests…”

Keith took Pidge’s hands and pulled them out of the chair. “I will carry you like a child if you don’t move.”

They started walking to the car without having to be told twice. “Keith, grab the food. I’m gonna go into my food coma now.”

Lance was already in the kitchen searching for the foil. Keith brought over the food. “Drawer next to the sink on the right.”

“What. Why’s it there?” Lance winced as he picked it up with his bad hand. “Did you reorganize my kitchen?”

“I started cleaning a little. Made things easier to find. Maybe.” Keith didn’t bring up the picture he found. He didn’t think it was his place to ask about something so personal. At least, not yet.

“Well, if I need anything, I’ll ask.”

“Go for it.” Keith watched as Lance struggled to cover the food with one hand.

“Oh, thanks,” Lance said when Keith helped him wrap the food.

Keith grabbed everything and headed to the door. “I had a nice time. Thanks Lance.”

“Thanks for coming, I had a good time too.” Keith began to walk out of the house, but Lance’s words stopped him mid-step. “This can be…a thing if you want. I really don’t mind cooking for other people.”

“You sure? I wouldn’t want to be a burden.”

“No, you’re not,” he replied quickly. Maybe a little too quickly. “I enjoy it. Really.”

“Yeah, I would love to then.” Keith hoped he didn’t sound too eager.

“That’s great. If you have any suggestion then, just send them to me.”

Keith nodded. “Will do. Hope the rest of your night is nice.”

“You too. Bye Keith.”

Keith walked to the car and when he got in, he placed the food in Pidge’s lap. Lance closed the door once they had left and went to get his phone from his room to text Allura.

 **Lance:** Don’t feel bad about not coming to dinner, I made it work  
**Allura:** I still do. I know how much you were looking forward to this… ):  
**Lance:** It’s becoming a regular thing with Keith and Pidge. Don’t worry, it’s fine.  
**Allura:** …You cooking for them?  
**Allura:** And them coming over?  
**Lance:** Yeah. They come over, eat, and take home left overs  
**Allura:** I promise we’ll come over next time  
**Lance:** Great! I look forward to it  
**Allura:** As do I  
**Allura:** I’m off to bed, goodnight Lance  
**Lance:** Night Llura

* * *

 

Keith was lying on the couch with his feet in Shiro’s lap, groaning.

“Why do you sound like a dying whale?” Lance asked, glaring at Keith for being so loud.

“My stomach hurts.”

“Cramps?” Shiro asked, rubbing Keith’s leg in pity.

“No, just pain.”

Lance snorted. “Probably because you had fried ice cream for your second breakfast today.” Lance grabbed some honey from the mini fridge in the room and a small container with biscuits.

Keith sat up. “I’m getting more ice cream.”

Lance stopped eating and stared at him in disbelief.

“Keith,” Shiro said in a warning tone. “It’s nine in the morning. You shouldn’t be eating ice cream.”

“Actually,” Keith looked over at the clock, “it’s nine _thirty_. And I already had breakfast – I’ve been up since seven.”

“Oh…” Shiro wasn’t aware of this information.

“Still, ice cream?” Lance asked.

“It’s _fried_ ice cream. How could I not?” Keith found what he was looking for and sat back down on the couch with a spoon.

“That’s even worse.”

Keith stared at Lance, unaffected by his words. “Lemme live. Not all of us have to be on some crazy diet because our character is a stick who only eats veggies.”

“Yeah, but you’re pining over that character,” Lance countered.

“ _I’m_ not pining over that character. My _character_ is. It’s called acting, Lance.” Keith shoved a spoonful of ice cream in his mouth, his gaze not once leaving Lance’s.

“Please, I’ve seen better acting out of Blue than I’ve seen from you.”

“If Blue is such a good actor, why not ask the director to make him your love interest? I’d be free of working with you.”

Lance felt himself jolt from the comment. Did he just accidently undo all the progress they made? Were they back to square one again?

“You know what? I don’t need this negativity bringing my mood down. I’ll just go eat with Allura.” Keith got up, closing his box of fried ice cream, and left the room.

Lance couldn’t seem to form words as he watched Kith leave. He sighed and looked at the floor, not knowing how to fix this.

“You should just tell him,” Shiro said.

His voice scared Lance. He forgot Shiro was still here. “Tell him what?”

“How you feel. I can see it Lance. If you want to make any progress with him, just tell him how you feel.”

His gaze returned back to the ground. “I can’t. There’s a huge possibility that if he doesn’t feel the same way, it’ll make things awkward while filming and I don’t want to risk that. I’ll just suck it up, and maybe keep my distance from him off-set.”

Shiro nodded, accepting his answer. “I can’t tell you what to do if you’ve already made up your mind. But I do have a question.”

Lance glanced at him.

“Why do you always keep picking fights with him if you like him? Is this some grade school crush or something you actually want?”

Lance shook his head. “I don’t even know anymore.” From all the scenes they filmed together, to how he felt in real life, was really starting to take a toll on Lance emotionally. He wasn’t quite sure how he felt, but he needed to figure it out.

Soon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter: Lance learns about Keith's feelings :o


	10. Act 10: Define complicated

* * *

_Scene I_

* * *

 

Lance had just finished a lecture and was packing up before he headed out. He thought all the students had left, when he heard Chris and Eric talking outside of the lecture hall.

“You doing okay on these journal things?” Eric asked, holding up his notebook. This wasn’t unusual talk and he thought nothing of it as he finished cleaning the boards.

“Yeah, coach is finally giving me a break from practice so I’ve been able to catch up. But damn, Lance is still ruthless. Four quotes with an explanation as to why they’re important and a three hundred to five hundred word summary per chapter?” Chris leaned against the wall.

“He’s just making sure you’re getting it, but his lectures have been pretty good recently.”

Chris hummed. “He seems more comfortable. Not that he wasn’t before.” At this, Lance’s ears perked up.

“Lot more open to comments,” Eric pointed out.

“More chill.”

“Definitely,” Eric nodded in agreement.

“He actually laughed at my joke last week.”

“He laughed?” Eric asked with disbelief. Sure he talked to Lance outside of class, but Lance was a complete professional during lectures.

“Yup. Not that sarcastic laugh he uses with me a lot either.”

Eric sighed, thinking of the other half of the equation. “And then Keith has been a little…eh lately though.”

“What?”

“He’s been a little quiet lately.”

At this point, Lance had finished everything and was now eavesdropping just inside the door. He leaned against the wall and listened to what the two outside had to say.

Chris thought of the Keith he knew. “He’s never quiet though.”

“I don’t know what it is…but maybe it’s Lance?” Eric didn’t want to pin Keith’s change in attitude to Lance, but that was the only change to Keith’s life that could affect him this way.

“How would it be Lance?” Lance frowned at this.

“Well, Lance is pretty quiet. They’ve been hanging out a lot more. Like, he and his roommate head over to Lance’s every weekend. They’ve gotten…closer. Well, as close as Lance would let someone get to him.”

Chris raised an eyebrow. This was new information. “And is there any chance of Keith…ya know?”

“Yeah, he does.”

Chris nodded. “That explains it. Why doesn’t he stop?”

Eric shrugged. “I haven’t figured it out. It’s really weird, and as far as I’ve seen, it’s been unrequited and Lance is oblivious. He wants to be friends.”

“Ouch.”

“The guy doesn’t have many,” Eric noted. Lance suddenly felt awful. This new development was certainly concerning. “I seriously don’t know what to do. I can’t watch him just spiral like this.”

“Try having a talk with him? Get to the bottom of this and help him move past it? There’s not much you can do.”

Lance had enough. He walked out of the room, pokerfaced, and said nothing to the two. It wasn’t a conversation Lance was supposed to hear, so clearly, he couldn’t talk to either of them about it. He would have to look for someone else who had answers for him.

“I…” Eric watched as Lance walked by. “I don’t think he would want that.”

“Why not?”

“Keith really likes him, and I think he’s taking what he can get right now.”

Chris clapped Eric’s shoulder. “You need to get him to talk to someone. Someone he’ll listen to. This isn’t healthy.”

Eric sighed. “I know.”

* * *

_Scene II_

* * *

 

Lance walked through the campus, slightly upset by what he had just heard. They may not have said it directly but Lance understood what they meant.

Keith liked Lance.

Considering his options, he pulled out his phone and texted both Allura and Hunk to get to the bottom of this. He knew Hunk was in class, but figured he could read the messages afterwards and get back to him. Two opinions were better than one.

 **Lance:** Does Keith like me?  
**Allura:** What?  
**Lance:** Does Keith like me?  
**Allura:** You two have gotten close. I don’t think he would be your friend if he didn’t like you…  
**Lance:** No, I meant more than that. Chris and Eric were saying that he was hurting himself by being my friend. What does that mean  
**Allura:** It’s complicated?  
**Lance:** Define complicated  
**Lance:** Allura, I don’t want to be hurting him, even if I don’t know what I’m doing wrong.  
**Lance:** This is ridiculous Allura. I’m hurting him. But he seems happy?  
**Allura:** It might be our fault not yours  
**Allura:** We told Keith to give you a chance and kept pushing him  
**Allura:** As for his feelings, I’m not sure  
**Lance:** He doesn’t seem to be upset with me, or hurting. I don’t know what’s going on  
**Allura:** Then I would leave it alone? If something works, don’t pry and mess it up  
**Lance:** That doesn’t make me feel any better.  
**Allura:** I mean, I don’t know what to tell you. He’s stressed from the comp and Shiro and bills  
**Lance:** Ok. Fine.  
**Lance:** I’ll drop it. I don’t want to upset him either.  
**Allura:** I’m sorry Lance…  
**Lance:** I’ll be fine. I just have to think this through.  
**Allura:** I trust you’ll do the right thing

Lance closed his front door and dropped his bag on the table. There wasn’t much he could do besides acting like he didn’t know anything and leaving Keith alone. He hoped Keith would talk to him about it eventually. His phone buzzed somewhere in his bag and Lance worked to fish it out.

 **Keith:** Hey, I won’t be able to make it tomorrow. I need to pick up some extra shifts and I’ll be there till closing. Pidge will still be going tho

 _Is he doing this to avoid me?_ Lance thought.

 **Lance:** Ok  
**Keith:** You okay?  
**Lance:** I’m fine, it’s been a long day.  
**Lance:** I’ll send extra home with Pidge  
**Keith:** I’m here if you need to talk and thanks ^^  
**Lance:** Yeah no problem, thanks for letting me know

Lance put his phone down and picked up Blue. He sat down on the couch and cuddled with the cat in an attempt to try to feel better. He ignored what Keith said. How was he supposed to talk to Keith when he was the root of his distress?

 **Hunk:** Hey bud  
**Lance:** Hey  
**Hunk:** How are you?  
**Lance:** I’m ok  
**Hunk:** You wanna talk?  
**Lance:** I don’t know what there is to talk about but sure  
**Hunk:** I can tell you’re moping  
**Lance:** Is it that obvious  
**Hunk:** I know you  
**Hunk:** Open up, I’m outside

Lance put Blue down and got up, knowing that Hunk wouldn’t lie to him. He opened the door and Hunk stood in front of him as promised. “Hi.”

Hunk didn’t respond, but instead engulfed his friend in a hug.

“It’s Keith.” Lance’s words were muffled by his friend’s chest. “He likes me and it’s hurting him to be my friend.”

“How’d you figure that out?”

Lance closed the door and walked to the couch, taking a seat, while Hunk following behind him. “I overheard Eric and Chris talking about it.” Lance curled up a little on the couch, pulling his knees up to his chest.

“Has Keith said anything to you?”

“No. But he can’t make the dinner tomorrow so only Pidge is coming.” Lance knew that wasn’t concrete evidence to back-up what he heard, yet it felt like it was more than enough to justify his mood.

“Maybe talking to Pidge would be more helpful. Keith hasn’t said anything to me.”

“Maybe.” Lance wasn’t feeling so sure. “I don’t want to be hurting him though.”

“If it was bad, I think Keith would have kept his distance.”

“But didn’t you and Allura push him to give me a chance?”

“I told him to after you ignored him while working on your story because I know how you are when working and I know that you don’t like being distracted. Allura pushed him too. But it was more her pushing you.”

“Okay. I just…I feel bad. I don’t know how I feel about him, or about wanting to be in a relationship.” Lance buried his face in his hands.

“I’m sure he gets that too. But why do you feel bad? And don’t say because you’re hurting him. What’s the real reason?”

“Because I don’t know how I feel!” He stood up and began to pace.

“Well, sit down and do some soul searching. Or pace. Pacing works too.”

Lance wasn’t good with his feelings to begin with. Now this whole dilemma with Keith was throwing him completely out of whack. “I’ve never felt this comfortable with anyone and he makes me feel safe, I’ve told Allura this. Just, he’s Keith! He makes everyone feel safe. So why am I any different? _I shouldn’t be different_! I’m just me, the freaking TA and socially incompetent friend. I don’t know what I’m doing. So why me? What’s so special about me?”

After letting Lance’s speech sink in, Hunk replied. “That’s a question only Keith can answer…”

“It will ruin our whole friendship if I ask that,” he said quietly.

“You can ask Pidge first then? I would talk to them before Keith. Do you want me to stay? Or are you better?”

“I feel a little better, but I don’t know.”

Hunk stood up and placed a hand on Lance’s shoulder. “It’ll take time. Feelings aren’t easy to figure out.”

“I wasn’t prepared for this.” Lance worn a tired grin on his face.

“Are we ever?”

“You tell me, this is my first time. How are you and Shay?”

Hunk beamed. “Good! She’s been busy with this huge project so we don’t see each other much. She might actually be mad at me.”

“Why?”

“We had a date planned and I came here without telling her.”

Lance immediately straightened up. “You should have told her!”

“I was driving. Couldn’t really tell her.”

“…Oh my god Hunk.” Lance pushed his friend out the door, ignoring his pleas to let him stay a bit longer. Once Hunk was gone, Lance collapsed on the couch and didn’t realize when he fell asleep.

* * *

_Scene III_

* * *

 

Pidge walked into Lance’s house naturally, as if they lived there too. “I’M HERE!”

“Hey.”

Pidge’s body was on autopilot, letting their nose lead them to the kitchen. “Smells good.”

“Macaroni casserole and just ice cream for dessert. Didn’t feel like much today.”

The look on Lance’s face said it all. Pidge didn’t want to push Lance too far. After all, this was just meant to be a one time thing. “Nah, you always do a lot anyways.”

“Thanks.” Lance pulled the casserole out of the oven and placed it on the table. Pidge had been over enough times to remember where the plates and utensils were kept to help set the table. Lance had been persistent on eating at the table each time, even though Pidge said they don’t mind chilling on the couch. They forgot just who’s house they were in.

“Lance, could you do me a favor?” Pidge had hopped up onto the counter with a fork dangling from their mouth. Lance assumed they snuck a bite of the casserole already.

“Depends.”

“Quit being so stiff. We’re friends, so stop acting like you work in Buckingham Palace and act like you’re at home, having dinner with a friend.”

Lance blinked in response. He didn’t know how to reply to that, he was just being himself. Had he grown that uptight over the years?

Pidge hopped off the counter and continued speaking. “Next time, I’ll make something and bring it over too. Or have Keith make something.”

Lance finally snapped back and sat down across from Pidge at the table. “That would be nice.”

“You haven’t had either of our cooking, have you?”

“No. Just been mine.”

Pidge hummed. “We’ll plan something out. Maybe we can alternate – one time you make dinner and we bring dessert and then switch.”

“Save me some money, but this is all built into the budget anyways.” Lance finally began to eat. “How’s Keith been?”

Pidge finished the food in their mouth before speaking. “Busy. Don’t know if he’s even getting sleep these days, but he’s still alive. He has one last meet this season and then things will get a bit easier.”

“That should be good for him then.” The entire time Pidge had been over, Lance couldn’t bring himself to look at them.

“Yup. How are you doing?”

Lance hesitated. “I’ve been…okay.”

“Why the pause?”

“It’s been a little rough the last couple of days.”

“Everything okay?” they asked, slightly concerned.

Lance decided not to beat around the bush. “Does it bother Keith by being my friend?”

Pidge stopped eating and looked at Lance a bit confused. “No?”

“He has feelings for me, yes?” Pidge stiffened. “I’ll take that as a yes.”

They continued to eat in silence, their turn to avoid looking at Lance.

“I don’t want to hurt him by being his friend Pidge…because I don’t know how I feel about him. I like him but I don’t know if it’s more than just platonic feelings.” Pidge could hear the plea in his voice, but honestly didn’t know how to help him.

“Keith is…at first, it was hard for him, yes. But he hasn’t mentioned anything to me recently. I think the weekly dinners are helping him.”

Lance didn’t buy that. “People have noticed he’s been acting differently. So I don’t know what to think.”

“Having a crush can be hard. Plus he’s stressed. So don’t worry about it.”

“…if you say so.” Lance still didn’t buy that.

“Lance, am I the type of person to lie?”

“No, definitely not.”

Pidge raised an eyebrow. “And would I hide the truth?”

“No.”

“Then, believe me.”

“I’m just worried it would hurt our relationship. As friends or whatever it is. I don’t know if I want to be more than just friends…” He put his fork down and rubbed his face.

“If your friendship was hurting him, I would know. And so far, he’s been okay. Keith never mentioned how he feels because he doesn’t want to ruin this either. Plus, it’s okay if you don’t know how you feel because honestly, Keith isn’t expecting anything from you. Just friendship.”

They finished their meal in silence.

“Do you still want to stay from ice cream?”

“Yeah.”

Lance went to the kitchen and came back with two bowls and Blue on his shoulders.

Pidge stared at the cat and suddenly began to speak. “Did Keith ever tell you that he had a cat?”

“No.” Lance was surprised. “He did?”

“Mhmm. When we were younger.”

“He hasn’t gotten a new one?”

They shook their head. “Nope. He never had the heart to get another.”

“I was thinking about getting another…maybe for him. I’ve noticed how he is with Blue and thought he would like one. Or is that too much?”

Pidge smiled. “I think he would like that.”

Lance smiled softly in return as Blue rubbed against his cheek.

* * *

“So, are you gonna pull a CF Keith and hide your feelings away?” Pidge asked. The crew had begun cleaning up set and Pidge was ready to head home. They were currently in Lance’s dressing room playing with Blue.

“Excuse me?” Lance waved the makeup artists away when his skin started to feel raw from the makeup remover.

“You know? You just gonna hide away your true feelings for Keith?”

“Did Shiro put you up to this?” he asked, narrowing his eyes.

“Shiro hasn’t been here for almost a week. So no. He didn’t.”

Allura popped her head into the room. “But he did say something to me!”

Lance groaned. “Everyone just needs to leave me alone.”

“We meddle because we care,” Allura said, taking a seat on the ground next to Pidge.

“And we don’t need you to be all sexually frustrated on set. I see how you get when Keith has a scene with Eric or Brian.”

“Shut up, Pidge.” The more they spoke, the more Lance’s annoyance grew. He knew he would snap any moment, but he didn’t want to yell at them. They just wanted to keep his best interest in mind.

“Lance, what’s so hard about telling Keith how you feel? Maybe you two can talk things through –“

“He might even like you back – ow.” Allura elbowed Pidge in the arm. “I’m not trying to get his hopes up or anything, but they have been spending a lot more time together.”

“Ignore them, Lance. Just –“

Lance picked up Blue. “Enough. I’m done listening to you – both of you. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m tired. Goodnight.”

He left without a single concern towards his two co-stars. He might have been a little rude, but he was tired of hearing what he should and shouldn’t be doing. First from Gina, then from the director, now his co-stars. His friends. He wanted a break. He needed a break. Just a few days so he could figure out if his feelings towards Keith were really his feelings and not some projection caused by the movie. He needed to talk to his mom…

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter: Keith and Lance bond over Pickles


	11. Act 11: Pickles

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Back a month later with over 8.2k words for ya. This was - and will be - my favorite chapter of the entire fic, just because I enjoyed writing it so much. It has a bit of everything in it and shoutout to my beta, Kay, for always doing such an amazing job at catching my firs and forms.  
> Also shoutout to all my readers! I appreciate all your support, comments, and love (:

* * *

_Scene I_

* * *

 

It had been a while since Keith had a little free time. No work, no studying, no Pidge. As much as Keith would have loved to just sleep, he wasn’t tired. Whenever he shut his eyes, numbers floated around, whether it was for the competition or bills. He was tying his shoes when some knocked on the door.

“It’s open!”

Shiro opened the door and walked in. “Hey, it’s me.”

They hadn’t really worked through their recent fight, so Keith wasn’t quite comfortable acting so normal with him. “Uh…hi.”

“I kinda wanted to apologize for arguing the last time.”

Recalling the scene Shiro created after his meet, Keith just nodded. He went to the kitchen to get some water before his run.

Shiro followed Keith, changing the topic quickly. It was easy for him to slip into what Keith and Pidge dubbed his ‘dad mode’. “Are you really going to go for a run? It’s about to rain.”

“Yeah. Haven’t done anything all week.”

“Keith the weather is going to get really bad soon. Run tomorrow.” Keith knew it going to rain. As much as his coach told him that he shouldn’t run in the rain, Keith loved it.

“I’m working all day tomorrow. I’m just going around the block. It’ll be like, ten minutes.” He spoke with a bored tone, hoping Shiro would take the hint.

Shiro knew that Keith wouldn’t budge. He glanced down at the counter and spotted an envelope from the hospital. “Keith, what’s that?”

“What’s what?”

Shiro picked up the envelope. “This?”

Keith snatched the envelope from his hand. “Just filing some stuff. Don’t worry about it.”

“Keith, it was from the goddamn hospital. What could be from the hospital? It had a bank stamp on it too.” Shiro’s voice began to rise.

“Just a bill.” Keith’s annoyance was growing, as was Shiro’s.

“A bill for what?”

At times like this, Keith wished Shiro knew how to let things go. “Pidge needed to get a checkup done.”

“It was made out to you. If it was Pidge, it would have been made out to them. Tell me the truth. What is it for?”

Keith didn’t reply. He didn’t know how to answer Shiro without starting a fight. “I…”

“Is it from the accident?” Keith simply nodded. “I thought we already paid them off! Why are we still getting billed?”

“I wasn’t able to pay it off so I worked out some stuff with the bank and hospital and have been paying monthly,” Keith said quietly. He felt himself shirking smaller and smaller each passing second. He had hidden this little known fact ever since the accident and told Shiro that all the bills had been paid.

“In other words you took…you took out a loan? What the hell? You deplete our savings to get me a fucking arm and take out a loan to cover the rest of our bills?” Shiro’s voice was slowly rising. This was exactly what Keith had been dreading.

Keith couldn’t bring himself to look at his brother. “I’m doing what I have to do.”

“And you didn’t tell me? I could have been helping!” Shiro curled his fingers into a fist to stop himself from punching something.

“I didn’t tell you because you wouldn’t have agreed! You flipped you shit when I told you about the arm and if I told you I got a loan, you would’ve killed me –“

“Damn right I would have killed you! All this wouldn’t have happened if you didn’t get me an arm! I was fine with adjusting to life without one.”

Keith knew he was close to snapping. Shiro never took the chance to see things from his perspective and constantly belittled Keith for his choices. Rather than commending him for growing up and taking charge, he was yelled at for wasting money and making hasty decisions. “You know what? I’m tired if constantly hearing about how everything I’ve ever done for you was a mistake –“

“Because you didn’t need to do anything!”

“I SAW YOU STRUGGLING AND I DIDN’T KNOW WHAT TO DO!” Keith had had enough. Although he didn’t want to be the first one, he finally snapped. “You were in a coma for months! I did what I thought I should have done and I will NOT apologize.”

Shiro’s face was a mix of hurt and anger. “The least you could have done is tell me! I could have been helping you for the past three years with this. But no, you have to do it on your own.”

“ _Why_ won’t you just let me take care of you for once?! I’m tired of you always doing things on your own and for once, _just once_ , I wish you would rely on me, and let me help you because you’re not alone damn it!” Keith’s voice cracked as he spoke, but he refused to let his tears fall in front of Shiro.

“You shouldn’t have to worry about me! I should be taking care of you, you’re my little brother.”

Keith could see Shiro’s shoulders shaking from his anger. His gaze turned downwards as his voice calmed slightly. “We’re family, Shiro. _We help each other_. You’re my brother, not my dad, so why don’t you just let me take care of you…”

“And the older sibling takes care of the younger! Not the other way around!” Shiro’s prosthetic fist made contact with the counter causing Keith to flinch slightly. “What would dad think of me if he knew that you were taking care of me? He always told me to make sure you were okay –“

“No, he told us to watch out for each other,” Keith quickly cut him off. His father always reminded them that they were a team – that they needed to work together. “God Shiro, do you ever listen?”

“Do you have to be so stubborn?! If you hadn’t made a big fuss about going out that day –“

“Fuck this. If me being your brother is such a burden, then just leave me alone.” Keith walked out without giving Shiro a second glance.

“No! Keith –“ The slamming of the front door cut him off. “Fucking hell.”

Keith was running without a destination in mind. He just wanted to get away from his brother. The light rain quickly turned into a down pour. Keith’s tears mixed in with the rain that was streaking down his face. He couldn’t help but feel like everything he ever did was a mistake whenever he talked to Shiro. He wished he could look into his brother’s eyes and see pride, not disappointment. Ever since Shiro woke up that day, he only ever made Keith feel like his role in their family was a mistake. He never told anyone, but there were times when he wished he wasn’t adopted by the Shirogane family. He was the one who wanted to go out for a drive that day. Would things have turned out different if he wasn’t taken in by them? Would the accident have ever occurred? Was it really all his fault…?

By this time, Keith knew he had been out longer than the ten minutes he meant to be out. He was much farther out from the apartment and the storm was only getting worse. He wasn’t willing to turn back around just yet. Not if there was still a chance of bumping into Shiro. The houses around him started to look more familiar as Keith began to slow down. His feet stopped moving and despite the cold rain hitting him, his body felt on fire. Keith looked up.

He was in front of Lance’s house.

He saw the lights on and slowly walked to the front door without hesitating. He didn’t know what to say or do, he just let his body move for him. He knocked on the door, knowing that it would be locked.

Lance looked up at the sound of someone at his front door. He looked down at Blue in his lap, confused, before getting up and opening the door.

“…Keith?” Lance didn’t even take to time to look at his condition. “Get in here, it’s pouring.” He pulled Keith inside easily. He closed the door and turned to Keith. “Okay. Let’s get you warmed up.”

Lance walked to the bathroom, checking over his shoulder to make sure Keith was following behind. “There’s a towel in there and use whatever you need. I’ll find some dry clothes for you.”

Keith just nodded as Lance left to find some warm clothes for him. Keith sighed. He didn’t know what he was doing here. There were other places he could go, and yet, he ended up here. This wasn’t Lance’s problem, he shouldn’t be taking care of Keith. They were just friends…

Blue meowed from Keith’s feet. He looked down at the cat who was rubbing against his wet leg. Keith kneeled down and began to pet him. “Hey Blue,” he said, his voice cracking a little.

Lance returned to Keith holding a hoodie and sweatpants. “These should fit.”

“Thanks,” Keith replied quietly. He took the worn out clothes and stood up.

Lance gently pushed Keith into the bathroom. “Please, shower. It’s fine.”

Keith let himself be pushed into the bathroom without putting up a fight. As he closed the door, Lance headed to the kitchen to heat up some water. Keith stripped off his clothes and tried to let the water wash away his problems. It was the same wish he had every time he got into a fight. He knew it was pointless, but he never stopped wishing. Even after his belief in wishes faded.

Not wanting to increase Lance’s water bill, he quickly washed his body and hopped out, neglecting his hair. He slipped into the clothes Lance gave him and walked out.

“I’m in the kitchen.” Keith didn’t need to be told at this point. Just as his feet led him to Lance’s house, they took him to the kitchen.

“Cocoa or tea?”

Keith shrugged. “Doesn’t matter.”

Lance squinted at Keith, not able to make out his expression. Keith pointed to Lance’s head.

“They’re on my head again, aren’t they?”

“Yeah.” Keith looked back down.

Lance brought his glasses back down and looked at Keith again. “You need tea.” Lance began to look around for the tea bags. “You don’t happen to remember where you put those, do you?”

“Cabinet on the right of the stove.”

“Thanks.” Lance grabbed two tea bags and two mugs. He poured the water into the cups and let the tea seep. All the while, Keith hadn’t moved from his spot.

“C’mon, we can move to the living room.” Lance began to walk into the living room and quickly realized Keith hadn’t moved. He placed his arm around Keith and helped him over to the couch. Keith walked with Lance in a haze. His mind felt disconnected from his body. His fights were bad, he knew that, but this one was the worst.

How did it even come to this?

When did it get to the point of blaming each other?

Lance sat Keith down and crouched in front of him. He had never seen Keith like this and couldn’t help but be worried. The person he always looked to for a sense of happiness looked so utterly broken, Lance was genuinely concerned. “Are you okay?”

Keith opened his mouth, but no words came out. He closed his mouth and just shook his head.

“I’ll bring the tea. Just sit here.” Lance got up and went to the kitchen.

Keith took the tea Lance offered him and pulled his legs up to his chest. “Thanks.”

Lance took a seat on the other end of the couch. “Feeling slightly better?”

Keith nodded in response. “I’m sorry for disturbing you…I was running and I just…ended up here…”

“It’s fine. I was feeling kind of lonely anyways.” Lance had gotten so used to having someone over every weekend that it felt strangely quiet. It was as if his body was expecting the noise of others tonight, but was welcomed by the usual silence of his house.

They both sat there in silence, sipping their tea. It was a different kind of silence, but Lance didn’t mind it. He was surprised by how comfortable he was with it. If he needed to describe the feeling, Lance would say it was as if his body knew he was with someone else, another presence he enjoyed.

He didn’t know what was wrong with Keith, but he needed to get his mind off of whatever happened. He wasn’t one to pry if it wasn’t his business, so he came up with something else to talk about. “Did you have any favorite stories growing up?”

“Like books?” Keith hadn’t looked at him as he spoke.

“Books, bedtime stories, family tales, anything.”

Keith fell silent again, making Lance slightly worried that he wouldn’t get a response. “There was one Christmas when my parents got me a cat. They didn’t know that she was an adventurous cat and climbed out of the basket. I woke up to my parents freaking out because they couldn’t find the cat and Shiro ended up finding her asleep in a pan on the stove.”

“A pan?”

“A pan on the stove,” Keith nodded.

“What was your cat’s name?”

“Pickles,” Keith replied without hesitation.

Lance was in the middle of sipping his tea when he spit everything out into his cup. “I-I’m sorry, but….really? Pickles?”

“She liked pickles and I wasn’t creative.”

Lance wanted to fight Keith on choosing an awful name like that, but decided against it. “Fair enough. Never heard of a cat liking pickles though.”

“She was…special.”

“Sounds like she was. Tell me more about her.” Lance resumed to sip his tea.

“She slept in the weirdest places.”

Lance spoke up when he realized Keith wasn’t going to say more. “Blue does that sometimes. What was the weirdest place you found her? Besides the pan when you got her.”

“In the fireplace.”

“The fireplace? I once found Blue in the freezer. It’s why I have to keep him away from the fridge. I thought he had gone missing for two days and I find him in the freezer like it was nothing. My cat likes the cold. Once found him self-buried in the snow, outside the greenhouse.” Keith gave Lance a small smile as Blue jumped up from behind Lance and rubbed his face against Lance’s cheek. He still wasn’t looking at Lance though. “Wouldn’t really have him any other way though.”

“Pickles liked warm places. My mom was trying to cook the turkey one year and she tried jumping into the oven with it.”

“Oh no. You never found her in the drier, did you?”

“Too many times. Never when it was on though,” he quickly added before Lance panicked.

“Oh, that’s good. I never had pets growing up, but when I was on my own, I managed to befriend a dog that I shared my meals with. Really helped with keeping people away from my stuff. Named him Guardia.” Keith smiled into his mug. “He became the shelter’s dog after that. I think he’s still there, but he’s probably old now.”

Keith shifted in his spot. “Your parents never let you have a pet growing up?”

“We were fairly poor when I was still there, but I’m sure after I left, that freed up a lot of money.”

Keith frowned. “Don’t think like that.”

“It’s the logical thing. There were three of us. A sister and two brothers. I was the oldest.”

“I’m pretty sure they miss you. All of them.”

“I miss them too, but I can’t go back.” Lance shook his head.

“Who says?”

“My parents,” he replied quickly.

“They’re still your parents. They may not agree with you, but I’m sure they still miss you.”

“You’re forgetting that I come from a very Catholic family. When my brother accidently told them he saw me kiss a boy, they were outraged. My father beat me and told me to leave. My mother wouldn’t even look at me. Even after I told them I was bisexual and I could still like girls, they wouldn’t have it. I tarnished their pure Catholic reputation.” Remembering the past always made Lance feel angry with everything. He used to wonder what was wrong with him. Why couldn’t he make up his mind and like one gender. But he’d grown to accept himself and the memory was simply a sad event that he couldn’t change.

“How did your siblings feel?”

“They were quite upset about it…specifically my sister. She was screaming at them to let me stay, but my parents had the final say. That’s the way it was in my family. I was disowned and allowed to pack a bag before I was kicked out. So, as upset as I was at my parents for not even trying to understand me, I respected them and left.”

“I’m sorry…” Keith didn’t know what else he could say. His parents and Shiro had been more than accepting of him when he came out, so he couldn’t even imagine what Lance went through. “Is that their picture in your kitchen?” The words left his mouth before he knew it.

“You saw that?” Keith nodded. “Yeah. It’s one of the few pictures I took with me.” Lance sighed. “I couldn’t bring myself to throw it out because they’re still my parents.”

Keith wanted to change the topic. He shouldn’t have brought up the picture. “Have your tried talking to your siblings since you left?”

Lance placed his mug down on the table and turned to Keith. “I haven’t. I feel like that would just get them in trouble and I didn’t want to make it worse for them.”

“Understandable.”

Lance curled up on the couch. “I can tell you about my siblings if you want. I actually have some good memories of them.”

Keith nodded.

The thought of the event brought a smile to Lance’s face. “So my sister once thought it would a good idea to play hide-n-seek in the park. We played for hours, and once it was my turn to seek, I managed to find my brother right away. He’s not the most creative. But for the life of me, I couldn’t find my sister. There were trees surrounding the park, and a play set, and half buried tractor tires that made up the sea monster, and we checked everywhere. Guess where I found her.”

“Where?”

“Asleep at the top of the biggest tree in the park.”

Keith laughed a little. “How’d you get her down?”

“I had to climb up there and wake her up. If I yelled for her, she would have flailed and fallen out.” Keith laughed again at the thought of Lance causing a little girl to fall out of a tree. “First thing she said to me when I woke her up was ‘Hey you found me’. I was too relieved to be mad at her. All I could do was laugh. And at this point, we were all late for dinner, and I was scolded up the wall for letting us all stay out too late. Couldn’t exactly tell my parents that Clari fell asleep in a tree while playing hide-n-seek in the park because then it would be ‘Lance, why did you let her climb a tree?’.”

At this point, Keith was smiling. His mind was off the fight and he was feeling better. “What about your brother?”

“John. John wasn’t adventurous like my sister, so he managed to stay out of trouble mostly. He’s not as bookie as me, but he was smart in other places. He could understand people really well. My sister was good at it too but she was too caught up in herself to bother mostly.”

“They sound like good kids. How old are they now?”

“I think…Clari is eighteen now and John should be sixteen.”

“That’s quite a gap.”

“Yeah, John wasn’t exactly planned. Hide-n-seek happened a year before I left.”

Keith simply nodded. The memories of him and Shiro growing up crept into his mind and the smile on his face faded quickly.

Blue meowed. “What’s a matter big guy?” Blue just continued to meow and pawed at Lance’s hand. “I’ve been petting you, what do you need?” Blue ignored Lance’s questions and kept meowing.

Keith set his cup down, crossed his legs and opened his arms. Blue climbed over Lance and rubbed against Keith’s chest. Keith petted the cat in his lap.

Lance watched them with a smile. “I’m glad he likes you. He can be picky.”

“Really? He’s so friendly.”

“Yeah, when I got him, he wouldn’t let anyone but me near him. He was abused as a kitten. So he was about a year old when I found him at a shelter. The caretakers there almost wouldn’t let me see him because he hissed at everyone, and when I looked in, he came up to me and let me pet him. That was the end of that.” Keith looked down at Blue. “Took a while to earn his trust but now he treats me like I’m some odd cat that can barely take care of myself. Reminds _me_ to eat half the time.”

Keith chuckled. “Sounds about right.”

“Took a few days of Hunk hanging around for Blue to warm up to him and then everyone was soon after. You were the only one to not have a grace period besides me.”

“Good kitty.” Keith scratched under Blue’s chin. “Thanks for all this. I appreciate it.”

“It’s not a problem.”

“I uh…” Keith wasn’t sure if he should tell Lance what happened. Their fights were a lot for Pidge and they had been witnessing them for years. “I got into a fight with Shiro and walked out. I’m pretty sure he’s waiting for me.”

Lance didn’t think it was his place to hear this. “You don’t have to explain to me, but if you don’t want to go back, you can stay.”

Keith looked at him with hopeful eyes. “Are you sure? I don’t want to impose.”

“Yes, I’m sure.”

A silence fell over the two. “Anything else you want to talk about?”

“I’m not sure…”

“Me either.” Lance watched as Keith stared at his mug on the table with a distant look in his eyes. The fight must have been awful if it caused him to run away from his own place and doesn’t was to go back.

“Have any movies?”

That snapped Lance out of his thoughts. “A few? They’re like that really old Disney movies though.”

“What do you have?”

Lance got up and went through the drawer where he kept his movies. He rummaged through the papers and small tidbits like screwdrivers and buttons but couldn’t find most of his movies. “Uh, the only one I could find is Beauty and the Beast.”

“That’s fine.”

Lance popped it into the DVD player. “I’ll be right back.” He left to go to his room and got himself and Keith a blanket. On his way back, he noticed Keith’s clothes hanging from the curtain rod in his bathroom. He tossed the damp clothes in the dryer before returning to the couch.

“What’s that noise?” Keith asked, trying to concentrate passed the sounds from the movie.

“I tossed your clothes in the dryer. They should be good to go in the morning.” He tossed a blanket over to Keith and settled down on the couch with his own.

“You didn’t have to.”

“I was going to get one for myself so it wasn’t a big deal.” Lance shrugged.

“I meant the clothes…”

“Oh. Well, you ran around in the rain. I couldn’t just let you go back home in damp clothing.”

“They would’ve dried if you left them. You really didn’t need to.”

“Keith. You’re my friend, let me take care of you.” With that, Lance turned his attention back to the movie.

Several minutes passed where neither of them spoke. The words echoed in Keith’s mind. _Let me take care of you_. The same words he was stressing to Shiro. Why was everything so complicated with him? Letting Lance take care of Keith was nice, peaceful even. So why was it such a big deal with Shiro?

“Did you watch a lot of these when you were younger?” Lance asked as the intro to the movie began.

Keith pushed all his thoughts about Shiro out of his mind. “Not really. My dad wasn’t big on TV. You?”

“I only saw a few and most of them were Disney. The ones I have were ones I was able to find in the thrift store. You’ve seen some though right?”

“A few here and there,” Keith replied slowly.

“Which was your favorite?”

He thought about it. “I don’t think I really have a favorite. I remember watching Titanic in theatres and the entire time I kept asking my mom when they were going to die.”

Lance was speechless. He could only imagine a young Keith pestering his mom in the dark theatre about the death of Jack Dawson.

“I also saw Ratatouille in theatres, but this time my mom complained about a rat cooking the entire time. We didn’t go to the movies much because my dad would always fall asleep and end up snoring real loud. Shiro would always have to be the one to wake him after my mom and I left.”

“Ratatouille is one I haven’t seen,” Lance replied, grinning.

“Oops…spoiler alert.”

Lance let out a chuckle and they both settle back into the movie. They had gotten to around the part where the Beast asked Belle to dinner when Blue started meowing loudly again.

Lance glared at the cat sitting next to him. “What do you want?” he asked exasperatedly. Blue continued to meow as loudly as his small body would let him.

“Blue.”

Meow.

“And? You’ve been fed.”

Meow.

Lance sighed. “If I feed you again, you won’t eat in the morning,” he said bluntly.

Blue climbed into Lance’s lap and began to purr and rub his head against Lance’s chin.

“Bribery won’t get you anywhere Blue, you know this.”

Keith had been watching the entire interaction. “Does he go out?”

“Yeah, I leave the cat door open for him all the time. If he needed to go, he would –“ Lance was cut off by Blue’s loud crying for attention. “Bluuuuue.”

Blue continued his fit as Belle got dressed for dinner. He got louder as he kept rubbing up against Lance. “Blue, you’re not making any sense…What am I going to do with you?” Lance scooped up his cat and cuddle him.

Keith turned his attention back to the movie. Once Lance had gotten Blue to calm down slightly, he looked up.

“You know, Clari would always complain about not being able to find her prince charming,” Lance spoke with a fond expression, looking back down at the cat in his arms. “I would always have to listen to her go on and on about how the boys in her second and third grade classes were nothing like princes from movies. And one day, my mom finally asked her what she looks for in her so called prince charming. She replied ‘Someone who treats me the way Lance does because he’s always loving and kind to me and makes me laugh’. So the next time we watched a Disney movie, I had a plan. It just so happened to be this one. I ended up dancing with her during the song after I told her to put on a big, poofy dress.”

Keith laughed at the thought of Lance dancing.

“What’s so funny?”

“Nothing. That’s adorable.”

Lance furrowed his eyebrows. “No, you’re laughing at me. What did I say?”

“It’s not something you said…I just – you don’t seem like the dancing type.”

“My mom loved salsa dancing and would dance with me when I was younger. It’s the only dancing I can do – anything else, and I’m awful.”

Keith turned his attention away from Lance, a smile lingering on his face.

“Fine, I can prove it.”

“I didn’t even say anything!”

“I know that look. Allura gives that look to me every time she doesn’t believe something I say.” Lance put Blue down and got up from the couch, pushing his blanket aside. He stood in front of Keith and held out his hand.

Keith leaned to the side to look around Lance. “Lance, you’re blocking the TV.”

“Up.”

“I am not dancing to a Disney movie song with you.”

“Yes you are, now get up or I’ll help you up.” Lance motioned for Keith to get up with his outstretched hand.

Keith groaned and reluctantly pushed the blanket off him. Lance grabbed his hand and effectively pulled him off the couch. He placed one hand on Keith’s hip and started to move.

“Just follow my lead.”

“This is ridiculous.” Keith felt his heart beat pick up and he knew it wouldn’t be long until his hand got clammy. He avoid looking at Lance, deciding to keep his eyes fixated on the television screen.

“Did you talk to your cat a lot?” Lance asked. He figured talking would be better than humming the tune of the song.

Keith hummed. “All the time.” He unconsciously leaned into Lance a little. “I told Pickles things I was too scared to tell anyone else.”

“I just talk to Blue to fill the silence sometimes.”

Keith let his eyes wander back to Lance. “It must get lonely by yourself.”

“Sometimes, but it hasn’t been too bad lately. You, Pidge, and Allura help a lot.” Lances smiled down at him and Keith couldn’t help but stare. He was so close. It wouldn’t be hard to close the distance between them.

“I’m glad…” he said quietly. He pushed the thoughts out of his head and focused on not accidently stepping on Lance’s foot. Once the song ended, Lance twirled Keith in the direction of the couch. He couldn’t recall the last time he enjoyed someone’s company this much.

“Okay, so you can move a little…” Keith admitted.

“I knew you didn’t believe me!” Lance shouted, slightly bouncing on the couch. It was a side of Lance Keith had yet to see, and he was thankful for it. It made him wonder if this was how Lance was like when he was younger.

“Why didn’t you get a place with Hunk?”

“He wanted to live on campus for a year. I couldn’t afford my tuition and live in the dorms since the scholarship only covered so much. But I was able to get this place for cheap. Coran and Thace have been a great help. Coran offered me a job as a TA first, after I took his class.” Blue pawed at Lance. “Yes Blue, you too. You’ve been a great buddy.”

“I’m glad you were able to work things out.”

“I’m pretty sure Coran and Thace over pay me, but at this point, I’m not really going to argue. At first, I tried, but they only upped my pay when they saw me with only crackers and cheese for lunch. They’re like two old, crazy uncles that like to spoil me.”

The topic of food reminded Keith about the dinner he missed. “Oh, I’m sorry about missing yesterday. The casserole was amazing.”

“It’s not a big deal. I’m glad you liked it. I was feeling a bit nostalgic about the macaroni and cheese so I made something a little better.”

“I’ll try to come this Saturday, but I’m not sure about my work schedule anymore.”

“Don’t worry about it. If you’re busy, you can’t help it.” Lance felt a little sad at the thought of not seeing Keith on Saturday, but knew he couldn’t do anything about it. He didn’t realize how much Keith’s presence affected him.

“If I can’t make it, I’ll cook something and send it over with Pidge. I don’t want you to keep having to spend all this time and money on us if we can help out too.”

“Like I said before, this is a part of my budget. I really don’t mind.”

Keith didn’t argue. “Okay fine, but we should have Thanksgiving together. I’ll cook!”

“You…you want to spend Thanksgiving with me?” Lance stared at Keith with wide eyes.

“Yeah. I normally just spend it with Pidge and occasionally Shiro if he isn’t mad at me over something.”

“I…I would really like that.” Blue meowed from Lance’s lap. “Uh, would Blue be able…?”

“Of course.”

“Then yes, I’d love to spend Thanksgiving with you.” Lance beamed at Keith causing Keith to look away.

“Great.” Keith lifted the blanket to cover his face. He stopped just under his eyes so he could still watch the movie.

Lance noticed his new position after a while. “You okay? Why are you hiding?”

 _To hide the blush on my face._ “My…nose is cold.”

“Do you need a tissue?”

“I’m okay.” Keith was thankful that Lance didn’t push it.

Lance on the other hand, may not have known Keith’s exact reasoning as to why he was covering his face, but he wasn’t going to act weird. He didn’t want Keith to feel uncomfortable around Lance, and that would happen if Lance let it slip that he knew about Keith’s crush.

They watched the rest of the movie in silence. The small caffeine boost from the tea had worn off and Keith was exhausted from the emotionally charged evening. He had begun to nod off when Lance turned off the movie.

“Let’s get you to bed,” Lance said as he helped Keith off the couch.

Keith yawned and tried to rub his eyes awake. Lance slapped his hand away from his eyes. “Stop that, it’s bad for your eyes. It’s two in the morning anyways, so there’s no point in trying to wake up.” He set Keith down, gently, in his bed and tucked him in.

Keith grabbed Lance’s hand as he turned to walk away. “Wait Lance. I can sleep on the couch.”

“You’re already in the bed and I don’t mind.”

Keith sat up. “No, I already showed up unannounced.” Lance pushed Keith back down easily. “I’ll,” Keith yawned, “sleep on the couch.”

“Sleep here. I’m insisting now.” Lance spoke in soft yet firm voice.

“Fine. But I…I owe you.”

“Yeah, you can make it up to me later, okay? Sleep, you had a rough night.” Lance reached over and grabbed the extra pillow that was next to Keith. “I’ll see you in the morning. Night Keith.”

“G’night Lance…”

Lance smiled and headed back to the living room. He place the pillow down and grabbed his phone.

 **Lance:** If you’re worried about Keith, he’s with me. He’s pretty tired so he’s spending the night.  
**Pidge:** Oh thank god! We’ve been going crazy looking for him and he left his phone here. Thank you so much Lance  
**Lance:** Yeah, no problem. He ended up here just as the storm really set in, so yeah. Does he work tomorrow?  
**Pidge:** Yeah, in the morning. I can come pick him up  
**Lance:** Ok, what time? I’ll make sure he’s up  
**Pidge:** He has to open, so I’ll be there around 6:30?  
**Lance:** ok, thanks  
**Lance:** Night Pidge  
**Pidge:** G’night Lance, and thank you again

Lance set an alarm for six am. “Looks like I’m napping today.”

* * *

_Scene II_

* * *

 

The alarm Lance set went off on the coffee table.

Lance groaned after being jolted awake. “Fuck…” He sat up and rubbed his eyes.

Keith woke up from the sound of the alarm as well. Lance stumbled into his room, his bed head worse than usual. “Hey, you up?”

Keith sat up and stretched. “Yeah…did I sleep here?” Keith rake a hand through his hair and got up. He didn’t remember much after the impromptu dance session and wasn’t quite sure how he ended up in Lance’s bed.

“Yes, I had you sleep here last night. You kept insisting that you would sleep on the couch but you had a rough night as it was.” Lance’s voice was filled with sleep. He didn’t understand how Keith was so alert after getting four hours of sleep at first, then recalled Pidge telling him how he functioned fine on little to no sleep. He also couldn’t understand how he didn’t look like shit. If anything, his bed hair suited him – Lance shook the thoughts out of his head.

“Do you mind if I use your shower again?”

“Go for it.” Lance walked out of his room to make some coffee. He was in desperate need to get caffeine in his system. He was also trying to be on his best behavior. Keith didn’t deserve to be snapped at just because Lance wasn’t a morning person.

“Thanks – oh. Where are my clothes?”

“In the dryer. It’s in the closet next to the bathroom.” The nicer Lance was, the more energy drained out of his system. He was just glad that Keith didn’t make him repeat himself.

“Got it.” Keith collected his clothes and headed into the bathroom.

Lance made two cups of coffee while Keith showered. He didn’t have any classes that he needed to TA for today, and his only class was at two in the afternoon. He set out some food for Blue before the cat had the chance to pester him about it.

Keith walked out of the bathroom with the clothes he borrowed from Lance folded. “I’ll wash your clothes and give them back.”

Lance waved his hand in the direction of the washer. “Just leave them outside the closet. I’ll get to them.”

“No, just let me wash them. It’s the least I can do.”

Lance held out a mug to Keith. “Then have some coffee.”

“I could’ve made the coffee too.” Keith took the mug nonetheless.

“Maybe. My coffee sucks.” In all his morning haze, Lance forgot what Keith’s job actually was for a moment. He had a feeling that he could even make this shitty coffee taste good.

Keith took a sip. “It’s not…bad.”

“Don’t lie.”

Keith put his free hand up in defense. “I’m not. People just have their preferences.”

“Keith, it’s instant coffee. I don’t even have a coffee maker.” He gestured to the bare counter.

Keith gave up his fight. “I could’ve just gotten you coffee. I have to go to work anyways.”

Lance shrugged. “Are you feeling better from last night?”

“Yeah, I am.”

There was a knock at the door. “That’s Pidge. I’ll get it.” Lance opened the door. “Hey Pidge.”

Pidge look up at him with a weak smile. “Hey,” they said tiredly. The dark circle under their eyes were more prominent than usual. Lance suddenly felt like he should have told them something earlier so they could have gotten more sleep.

“Want some coffee?”

“Sure.”

Lance moved to the side as they walked in. They immediately hugged Keith when they saw him. “Don’t do that again. Please.”

Keith placed the cup down and hugged Pidge back. “Sorry Pidgeon.”

They pulled away. “Now, where is this coffee?”

Lance was mixing a mug as the two reunited. “Almost done.” Just as Lance said that, he finished stirring and handed the cup to Pidge. “Here, fresh.”

“Thanks. I hope he wasn’t too much to handle.” Pidge sipped the coffee.

“Nah, we just talked and watched a movie.” Lance rubbed his eyes with one hand. He left his glasses in the living room, forgetting to put them on when he got up.

Keith finished his coffee and washed his cup.

“Sorry about waking you up early too,” Pidge said.

“Just…sorry for everything,” Keith gave Lance an apologetic smile as he took the cup from Pidge and washed that as well.

“Stop apologizing. You’re welcome over any time.” He paused as he thought about what he said. “It’s feels weird to say that…usually people are telling me to stop.”

Keith let out a chuckle. “Promise at Thanksgiving I’ll make it up to you in food.”

Pidge looked between the two. “You’re joining us this year?”

“Keith invited me.” Lance smiled.

“Keith’s stuffing is amazing,” they said dragging out their words. “Although, I bet yours is one hundred times better.”

“I wouldn’t know, I’ve never tried to make it before.”

“Oooo, you should –“

Keith immediately spoke up. “I already told him I’m cooking this year. It’s my turn anyway.”

“But still, I bet Lance’s stuffing would destroy yours.”

“Thanksgiving is the day we repay Lance for all these Saturday dinners.”

Pidge crossed their arms. “Okay, fine. But we need to get you to work. I have your uniform in the car.”

Keith wasn’t in the mood to work. “Ugh, okay. Thanks for everything again. I’ll have your clothes washed for you the next time we come over.”

“It was fun having you over, ignoring the circumstances that brought you here.”

Pidge was already in the car waiting for Keith. “I’ll see you later then.”

Lance gave Keith a warm smile as he crossed the street and got into the passenger’s seat. He watched as the two drove off, a sense of emptiness coming over him.

In the car, Keith was dreading the conversation he would have with Pidge. “So you invited Lance to Thanksgiving.” They didn’t waste any time. They knew better than to bring up any talk of Shiro and already heard most of it the night before. They were just relieved to see Keith fine and in one piece.

“I did.”

“You think he’s warming up to you?” They sneaked a glance at Keith who was looking forward. “I’m asking this seriously,” they added.

“As a friend, yes.”

Pidge hummed and Keith turned his attention to outside his window. He knew where this conversation was going. He just wasn’t ready for it yet.

“I may be speaking for him, but I think you might have a chance.”

Keith sighed. “I don’t need to get my hopes up.”

“No, Keith, really. I’m being serious.”

“Okay, then what makes you think that?” His head was leaning against the window and he stared at the road in front of them.

“Lance isn’t a morning person, and he was smiling at you.”

“So? I doubt even you would snap at someone who showed up at your door the night before because they got into a fight with their brother. He was just trying to be kind.”

Pidge raised an eyebrow, not buying what Keith was trying to sell. “Where did you sleep?”

“His bed?”

“See, he’s already giving you special privileges. The first night when I went to the dinner, he wouldn’t let me stay over, but last night, he willingly let you sleep in his bed?”

Keith knew Pidge. He knew they had all kinds of receipts on everyone. But he wasn’t going to let them win this one. “That wasn’t a ‘special privilege’. He told me that he wasn’t going to have me sleep on the couch after the night I had.”

“I doubt that if I went running to his house in the middle of the night after having a fight with you, he would let me sleep in his bed,” they muttered.

“Look Pidge, I’m finally getting the hang of this ‘just friends’ thing, so please, don’t plant ideas in my head.”

“Are you really though?”

“Yes,” he lied.

Pidge sighed. “Fine.”

Pidge pulled up in front of the coffee shop. “I’ll see you around. Later Keith.”

“I’ll – yeah.” He got out of the car, and the second the door closed, Pidge drove off. Keith took his clothes inside to change and got ready for work.

* * *

“Keith, wait up!” Lance shouted. He ran over to where everyone had wrapped up filming and was hunched over, trying to catch his breath. “God, I’m not used to this body.”

“What’s up?” Between seeing each other on set, promoting, and just constantly being around each other, the two had worked off their previous spat. Lance still wasn’t sure where he stood, but had an idea to try to figure it out.

“So, I was thinking… We still lack chemistry. Even the director had us retake the dance scene a couple times. I have an idea to try to work out our issues and get closer – for the movie, of course – if you’re willing to.”

Keith cocked an eyebrow. “Depends on what you have in mind.”

“We could have our own sleepover. Like the movie. Minus the fight and everything.” Lance was nervous but thanked his lucky stars that he was a damn good actor.

Keith thought about it. “You don’t have to give me an –“

“Yeah, why not?”

“Yes?” Lance didn’t believe his ears.

“Yeah. I was trying to think of a way to improve our chemistry too. I know I’m not the best actor out there, but everyone took the chance to believe in me, and I don’t want to let them down. Plus, I’m working with Hollywood’s favorite actor, international sensation, Lance McClain. If I make you look bad, I might not even be able to book arenas for my shows.”

Lance tried to hide his blush. “I’m not that popular.”

“Don’t even try to hide it – what do they call you? The Prince of Hollywood? At twenty three, too. I will be kicked out of all entertainment if I don’t do a good job.”

Lance felt like he was going to faint. Not just because the running made him feel lightheaded, but because everything Keith was saying. He would never in his wildest dreams have believed that Keith thought of him so highly.

“Hey, you okay? You’re looking a bit pale.” Keith placed his hand on Lance’s shoulder.

“Yeah…it’s just hot. And dizzy…”

Keith walked Lance over to a bench in the shade. “I’ll get you some water, don’t move.”

Lance closed his eyes and leaned his head back. Keith thought he was a good actor – no, Keith thought he was a great actor. So great, he felt the need to step up his game. If Lance died now, he would die a happy death. No. He couldn’t. He needed to find a way to tell Keith how he felt. He talked to his mom and she told him to ignore the world and listen to his heart. After a relaxing bath, face mask, and more chocolate covered strawberries than he’ll ever admit to, Lance figured out how he really felt.

He really like Keith.

“Sup, ugly?”

His eyes snapped open at the sound of his sister’s voice. “Mira, you scared me. You’re out early.”

“I told you this morning, I had an exam. How was filming today?” She sat down next to Lance and threw her stuff in his lap.

“Right, the exam. Filming was short. Good. Fine.”

She shifted in her seat so she was facing Lance. “Spill.”

“He said yes.”

“Really?!” Lance had already gone over his plan with Mira. They were close, she lived with him after all. She had been waiting for Lance to find a nice person to settle down with. When Lance told her that she was thinking way too far in the future, she settled on a decent partner. She was actually the first person to introduce Lance to Keith – she constantly played his music before they both moved out – and eventually he found himself listening to it too.

“Yeah. I’m nervous.”

She gave him a smile that reminded him of their mom. “That means you care. This is so exciting.”

“Okay, act cool. He’s coming back.” They both started chatting about her exam and remained neutral as Keith walked up to them.

He handed Lance a cold water bottle, staring at the girl on the bench. “Here…”

Lance took the bottle as his eyes followed where Keith’s were. “Oh, this is my sister, Mirana.”

She held out her hand. “You can call me Mira.”

Keith took it. “Hi.” She looked between the two. “Oh, are you feeling better?”

“What’s wrong?” Mira asked.

“He almost passed out,” Keith replied before Lance had the chance to say he was fine.

“Lance, I’m telling you. You can get off that crazy diet now. It’s weird being able to see your ribs. I don’t need you landing in the hospital when midterms arrive.” Mira was in mom mode. It happened more often than Lance would like, but it was only because his character was supposed to be thin.

“I promise I’ll stop after the group interview. We won’t have much left after that, right?” He looked at Keith.

“Yeah…”

“I’ll stop then. I have to look good for the launch party, ya know.” Lance wiggled his eyebrows. He knew he would have just enough time to get back into shape and get fitted for a new suit.

Keith cleared his throat. “I need to get going… You sure you’re okay?”

“I’m all good now. Thank you.” Lance nodded as if agreeing with himself.

Keith turned to Mira. “Please take care of him.”

“I will,” she grinned.

“And you,” he shifted back to Lance, “eat something and sleep. I know you’re free all day today.”

Lance held his hand in salute. “Yes sir.”

Keith rolled his eyes, smiling nonetheless, and walked to his car. Lance needed to start gathering everything he required for the sleepover as soon as possible.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next: Thanksgiving dinner with a slice of 911 for dessert~


	12. Act 12: LANCE?!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for being so slow! Uni is really kicking my ass and I haven't had much free time, but I managed to go through this before I head off to bed. Enjoy!

* * *

_Scene I_

* * *

 

Lance didn’t know why, but he felt nervous as he knocked on the apartment door. He heard a muffled ‘it’s open’ and hesitantly opened the door.

“Uh…hello?”

“Hey Lance, kitchen,” Keith shouted from his spot.

Lance hung up his coat on the hooks next to the door and headed into the kitchen. “Hey,” he said with a smile. It felt weird to him to go into someone else’s kitchen while they cooked for him. His nerves quickly died down when he saw Keith. He was wearing an apron and had his shirt sleeves rolled up to his elbows with his hair tied back.

He didn’t look up as he continued to work. “Hi. The others should be here soon. Not sure where Pidge went.”

Lance rolled up his sleeves as well. “That’s fine. Want help?” He wasn’t one to just sit around and wait for others, nor was he in the mood to snoop around the apartment and try to get to know parts of Keith that wasn’t seen by others.

“Sure!”

“Okay, what do you need help with?” Lance stared at Keith’s back and all he could think about was how he should wear his hair up more often.

Keith paused to think over his mental list. “The mashed potatoes and sauce need to be prepared still. The potatoes have been peeled, they only need to be prepped. Oh and the biscuits. The dough is ready in the fridge.”

Lance didn’t respond as he decided it would be best to start the biscuits first. He got the dough out of the fridge and started looking for a cookie sheet.

“Drawer next to the dishwasher, on the right,” Keith instructed as he worked on the stuffing. Somehow, he always knew what Lance needed.

Lance laughed. “Thanks.” He grabbed the cookie sheet and some aluminum foil and set the biscuits in the oven. Keith had some music playing and was humming along to it. Lance noticed the slight swaying of his hips and thought back to when they danced in his living room. It was only a week ago, but for some reason, it felt longer.

Lance smiled at the thought and continued working. “Which pot are the potatoes in?”

“The back right pot.”

Lance snaked his arm around Keith and checked the potatoes with a fork. “They’re good to go.”

Keith moved out of the way so Lance could take the pot off the stove and drain it. Keith had finished the stuffing by now and began to work on the turkey, seasoning it as Lance worked on the mashed potatoes. While Keith checked on the biscuits, Hunk peeked in.

“Can I come in?” he asked.

“Yup!” Keith replied.

Hunk walked in and did a small double take when he saw Lance. “Lance?”

“I invited him this year.”

“Hey.” Lance was glad to see his friend. Now he knew that he wasn’t alone if things got weird when Shiro arrived. Lance knew he would be coming since Allura had promised she would be attending. If she was coming, she would be dragging Shiro with her.

“We can be first timers together!”

Keith noticed a missing presence and turned to Lance. “I thought you were bringing Blue. What happened?”

“He was being a brat so I left him at home. He didn’t seem phased. Where’s the salt?” Keith noticed the slight irritation in his voice and tried not to laugh.

“Top cabinet to the right of the stove.”

Lance walked over and got it while Keith exchanged the biscuits for the turkey. Hunk watched as the two worked, happy for his break from the kitchen.

“Did someone ask for salt?” Pidge asked as they walked in.

Keith glanced over his shoulder. “Hey Pidge, where’d you go?”

“Out.”

“Wouldn’t have guessed.” Keith rolled his eyes and got back to work. If Hunk and Lance weren’t present, Keith most certainly would have pried deeper to the point of annoying Pidge, but decided against putting them in a foul mood for everyone else.

“Potatoes are done, what’s next?”

“I think that’s all.” Keith looked around at all the dishes.

Lance frowned. “What about the sauce?”

“I’ll do it.”

Since Keith had been avoiding the topic, Pidge figured they should just address it themself. “Allura and Shiro are on their way.”

“Allura has the dessert right?” Keith said indifferently.

“Yeah. That’s why they’re kind of late.”

Keith had begun working on the sauce. “It’s fine.” He continued to hum and drown out everyone else. It was his mom’s secret recipe and he wanted it to be perfect.

The three began to set the table and clean up whatever mess in the kitchen they could without getting in Keith’s way. Somehow, it was Lance who was in charge of the cleaning as he checked in on the turkey from time to time. Even in the small apartment kitchen, they managed to work without getting in each other’s way.

“Hello everyone!” Allura proclaimed as she threw open the door.

“Hey Allura,” Pidge said, keeping their eye on the duo in the kitchen.

Both Lance and Hunk greeted her as she wandered into the kitchen. “Smells great in here.”

“Way to wait for me Allura.” Shiro entered with a bag containing the dessert.

“I got excited.”

“Hey Shiro,” Hunk greeted.

“Hey everyone,” Shiro said as he placed the dessert in the fridge.

Lance muttered a quick ‘hi’ as he cleaned up and Pidge gave him a side hug so they could keep watching.

“What’s going on here?” He didn’t address Keith, nor did Keith acknowledge his presence.

“Just getting ready for the dinner.” Pidge said, finally turning to face Shiro.

“Anyways, it’s good to see you here Lance. You too Hunk.” Shiro went to the bathroom to wash his hands.

Pidge looked between Keith and Lance. They may have stopped talking to each other but still managed to work together perfectly. They knew what the other needed and managed to fill in for each other while the other worked on something else.

“They deserve to be together,” they muttered to themself. They kept their aggravation to themselves, but made a mental note to try to push Keith once more into admitting that there could be something between the two.

Keith had finished the sauce and steamed some vegetables as Lance checked on the temperature of the turkey.

“Thanks for checking that,” Keith said as he took out the plates and utensils.

“No problem, but what’s the temperature supposed to be?”

“180.”

“Turkey’s done then.” Keith handed him oven mitts and Lance pulled out the turkey. He brought it to table where everyone had sat down except him and Keith.

“If I was staying for Christmas, I would definitely have you cook, Lance.”

He looked at Allura as he took his seat. “You’re not?”

“Father wants to go back and celebrate with his family this year and I’m joining him.”

Keith set down two water jugs and sat across from Lance.

“Oh, that sounds wonderful.”

“Mhmm, I’m excited. I haven’t been back in a long time.”

“That’ll be great Allura. And don’t worry Lance, most of us will still be here. Keith and I for sure.”

“I’ll be working this winter so I’m not going anywhere,” Keith said.

“Okay.” Lance gave Keith one of his rare, genuine smile. The kind where his entire face lights up, the one that Keith always saw, but everyone at the table had hardly seen.

Allura looked at Pidge surprised. Pidge mirrored her reaction and looked over at Keith quickly before returning their gaze to Allura. They sighed in unison.

“Time to eat!” they said.

Everyone happily munched the food. Time went by with some small talk. Pidge had banned any school talk for the night so topics were reduced to holiday plans, job complaints, funny stories, and awkward attempts to get Keith and Shiro talking again. Pidge was the only soul brave enough to address the subject directly, but Allura quickly intervened when the tension started to rise.

Once everyone had finished their food, Keith got up to get dessert, grabbing a few dirty dishes. He was followed by Lance, who also had plates in his hands. They both placed their contents in the sink. Lance pushed his glasses onto his head and rubbed his eyes.

“You okay?” Keith pulled the dessert out of the fridge.

Lance removed his glasses from his head and looked at them. “I think my prescription is changing…” He sighed. “Time to start saving again.”

Keith grabbed some smaller, clean plates. “I can help with that if you need.”

“No, no, it’s fine. I’ll have enough by Christmas. Just means I won’t be holding those weekend dinners.” He gave Keith a sad smile.

“Don’t worry. If you still want, we hold them. You can always tell us if it’s getting to be too much for you. We don’t mind taking over and letting you relax.”

“Honestly, after graduating high school, everything has been a breeze. How’ve you been though?”

Keith was taken back. “Fine?”

“Haven’t really seen you since…a week ago.” Lance may not have been a TA for any classes Keith was in, but he still managed to see him once or twice during the week.

“Yeah, extra shifts at work. Any and all free time is dedicated to the final meet this weekend.”

Lance didn’t know if he wanted to buy that, but he didn’t question it. He couldn’t help but feel as though Keith was doing his best to avoid him. “Ah. Makes sense. I’m glad you’re doing okay.”

“Everything is okay right now, so yeah. No reason I shouldn’t be fine.”

Lance noticed that Keith had yet to actually look at Lance tonight. He spoke to Lance, but not once had they looked at each other in the eye. “That’s good.” Lance rubbed his eyes some more. “Sorry, wearing these all day had made my eyes really tired.”

Keith picked up the plates. “It’s fine. You can lie down it you want.” He pointed to a door next to the kitchen on the left. “We have a guest room you can use.”

“I’ll be fine. Thanks though. Let’s get desert out for everyone.”

Keith picked up the dessert with his free hand and took everything back to the table.

* * *

Hunk, Allura, and Shiro left shortly after finishing dessert. Hunk had to be up early for work the next day and Allura picked up on Shiro’s slight anger that he still had towards Keith. Lance stayed back to help Keith clean up. If he was being honest, he partially stayed to see how Keith would react now that there were less people present and partially because it was a force of habit to clean up after dinner.

Pidge, who was silently watching from the couch, was suffering from the tension between the two of them.

Keith was washing the dishes as Lance dried them. They had already put all the leftovers away. Lance didn’t know what to talk about as they worked and moved in silence. Lance didn’t mind it, but wished they could talk as freely as they used to.

“You really don’t need to help. Go home and rest.”

“I want to.” After a few moments of silence between them again, Lance spoke. “And is Pidge going to help you?”

“They don’t see the need since you’re doing everything.” Keith put the plate he was rinsing down and, for the first time that night, looked at Lance. “Seriously Lance. You should get some rest. You’ve been rubbing your eyes so much they’re red.”

“Are they? They’re not really focusing much anymore because of the glasses…”

“Go home. I’m not asking anymore.”

Lance stared at Keith. “Are…are you sure?”

“Yes.”

Lance put the rag he was using down and began to walk out of the kitchen.

“I got this. Pidge will help too.” He began to rinse the dishes again.

Lance leaned onto the counter. “I…” Keith looked up at Lance’s back. “I think I’m a little dizzy…”

A sigh escaped from Keith’s lips. He dried his hands and placed one arm around Lance’s waist and the other on his forearm. “Guest room for you.”

“No Keith. I can’t –“

“Can you walk?”

“Blue –“

“I’ll get Blue.”

Lance took a wobbly step forward and Keith helped him to the guest room.

“Where are your keys?”

“They’re in my coat pocket. Left.”

Keith sat him down on the bed carefully. “I’ll get Blue and a change of clothes for you. If you want to go to sleep, let Pidge know and they’ll find something for you to wear if I’m not back. Just relax.” Keith walked out of the room.

“Is Lance okay?” Pidge asked. They were still sitting on the couch but now supporting a worried expression.

“He’s dizzy. I’m going to get Blue and a change of clothes. Do you mind cleaning up?” He started digging through the pockets of Lance’s coat.

“Yeah, I can.”

He pulled the keys out of the coat. “I’ll be back then.”

“Okay.” Pidge got up and headed to the kitchen to finish what the two had first started.

Keith drove to Lance’s house in a hurry. He felt surprisingly calm despite Lance’s current condition. Something inside him was telling him that if anything did happen to Lance, he would be there and everything would be okay. He returned with Blue and some clothes for Lance, not wanting to waste any time.

“He still up?” he asked, kicking off his shoes.

Pidge shrugged. “I think. I haven’t gone in and he hasn’t asked for clothes.”

Keith knocked softly on the door.

“I’m up.” Lance was sitting on the edge of the bed, worried about Blue.

Keith walked in and set Blue on the carpet. His paws hadn’t even reached the carpet before he was running over to Lance. He also placed a small gym bag by his feet.

“Clothes are in there and I fed him.”

Lance held Blue close to his chest. “Thank you.” He scratched the cat’s back as he purred. “He’s never had a night without me. I was worried…” His voice trailed off, not wanting to finish the thought.

“There’s a bathroom right there,” Keith said as he pointed to the door in front of Lance. “Let me know if you need anything.”

“Thanks.”

“No need to thank me.”

Lance gave Keith a tired smile. “Just repaying me I guess.”

“This is nothing. I’ll let you rest. Goodnight Lance.”

“Night Keith.”

Keith closed the door carefully. He felt like a small weight had been lifted from his shoulders. If anything, he’d rather have Lance pass out here where Keith could at least get him to the hospital rather than something happening with no one around to help him. He felt a bit selfish for making Lance stay here instead of driving him back home, but it made Keith feel more comfortable.

Lance was scared and if he wasn’t being obvious with the way he was holding Blue in front of Keith, he definitely was now. He sat back on the bed with his legs tucked in close, Blue sandwiched between his legs and chest. It was more than leaving Blue alone for the night. It was the fact that after a long time, he felt like he didn’t have much control over his life. He never wanted to feel like this again – it was one of the few things he hated. The feeling of no control. The churn of anxiety has begun to pool in his stomach. He was just thankful this happened after everyone left because at least Keith didn’t ask him twenty questions and gave him space.

He also felt bad for worrying Keith. He didn’t fail to notice the grim expression he wore for the second half of the night.

How do you make someone who likes you less concerned about you?

Pushing all of his discomfort and fear aside, Lance looked at what was left over. Much to his dismay, it revolved around one concept.

 _The fact that Keith was so worried…was that something I want? Is that something I could get used to? Can I actually trust Keith with…_ me _?_

* * *

_Scene II_

* * *

 

 **Lance:** Hey, so I wasn’t able to buy anything for this week. We can still have dinner night. Want to bring dessert?  
**Keith:** Sure, did you want anything specific?  
**Lance:** I didn’t have anything in mind  
**Keith:** Okay

Keith was glad he bought that bundt cake beforehand now. It was supposed to be for Pidge and Hunk for helping so much with the project – mostly because both of them began working on his idea without considering anything else. He walked out of his room and found Pidge sprawled out on the couch. It was a rare moment to see them this relaxed. Keith almost felt guilty for disturbing them.

“Pidge, you coming tonight?”

“No. I’m almost done with the code for the arm. Gonna finish it tonight.”

“Okay, I’ll bring you some food.”

Pidge stretched. “’Kay.”

Keith grabbed the cake, making a mental note to find another way to thank Pidge and Hunk, and headed over to Lance’s house. It was instinctive now for Keith to just get into his car and drive to Lance every Saturday night. He considered himself lucky since he wasn’t scheduled to close for the next couple of weeks. If he had the choice, he would never close, just because it’s always the slowest shift and he felt like his time was wasting away.

Keith pulled up in front of Lance’s house and headed inside. It was a drill now, to just walk in and go to the kitchen.

“Hey.” Keith put the cake in the fridge.

Lance was working on pasta sauce since he only had ingredients for spaghetti. “Hey.”

Keith notice Lance looked more tired than the last time they saw each other. “Eyes still bugging you?”

“Yeah. Haven’t been able to wear my glasses and my old pair’s just make it worse.”

“You should just go and I’ll help cover the cost.”

Lance held measuring spoons up in Keith’s face. “Which is the teaspoon? And no, I can do this. It’s just really expensive without insurance.”

Keith picked out the teaspoon for his frustrated friend. “Seriously, you shouldn’t have to deal with this. I cover for Pidge from time to time, I really don’t mind.”

“I’ve done it before,” Lance began as he measured out some herbs. “I can do it again.”

Keith felt himself ice over. “Okay.”

Lance always had a problem with letting his pride get in the way of everything and he knew it, but it didn’t mean that he would throw all of it away and ask for help. He learned how to survive on his own and had been doing it for so long, he didn’t even remember how to ask. “Sorry, I don’t mean to be short. Can you strain the noodles?”

Keith grabbed the pot and strained the noodles in the sink. Lance turned off the stove once the sauce was ready while Keith let the noodles cool down. Lance set the table, grabbing all the utensils needed for the spaghetti and placing them there as well. He was a little unsteady, but Keith bit his tongue to avoid speaking about Lance’s condition again.

Lance was back in the kitchen to grab glasses for water when he leaned heavily on the counter.

“Lance…” Keith failed to keep his concern out of his voice.

“Keith…can you make…make sure Blue is okay?” Lance fell over once the words left his mouth.

“LANCE!” Keith caught him right before his body hit the floor. He shook Lance a little, calling out his name like a broken record. Keith felt his heart rate pick up at Lance’s unresponsiveness. As all the worst case scenarios began to flood his mind, Keith couldn’t help but think he was about to lose someone else he cared about. Keith knew Lance didn’t just die in front of him. He also knew he needed to get Lance to the hospital. He felt his pockets for his phone, and when he pulled it out, it slipped out of his hand landing next to his foot. He picked it up again with shaky hands and called 911. He gave them Lance’s address and called Pidge right after.

“What happened?”

Keith placed Lance’s head down carefully before standing up and pacing in the kitchen. “Lance…He just – just fell and now he won’t wake up and I don’t know what to do but I called 911 and they’re on their way and I knew something was wrong with him but I didn’t say anything because he was already on edge and didn’t want him to snap at me or something but now I should have –“

“Keith, breathe. Do you want me to meet you there?”

Keith ignored Pidge and continued. “I just…I tried to help him with his glasses but he wouldn’t listen and I tried again today but I stopped and now he won’t wake up and I’m freaking out.”

“If it’s just his glasses, then he should be fine. Just keep breathing and make sure he’s breathing too. I’m on my way to take you to the hospital.”

“Okay…” Keith’s hands were shaking.

“He probably just fainted. 911 should almost be there.”

“If he just fainted, then why would he tell me to take care of Blue?”

“Blue? I don’t know. We won’t know anything until he’s examined.”

Keith hung up without saying bye to Pidge when he heard the ambulance. He quickly answered the door, showing the paramedics where Lance’s unconscious body was. The paramedics took Lance away on a stretcher. Keith couldn’t get himself to look away from Lance as he began to be questioned, many of which he didn’t know the answer to.

Once they left, Keith sat in front of the door as he waited for Pidge. As much as he wanted to ride with Lance, he didn’t have the money to ride in the ambulance and Pidge was on their way to get him. He held his face in his hands as he tried to keep his tears at bay. He would be okay. Lance would be okay. He kept repeating this to himself.

Pidge gently placed a hand on Keith’s shoulder. “C’mon, I’ll drive.”

Keith fished the keys out of his pocket and handed them over. He followed Pidge and got into the car.

“He’ll be alright.”

Keith didn’t say anything because even though Pidge was right and he mostly likely passed out from a migraine from his eyes, Keith couldn’t help the thoughts running in his mind.

* * *

“I’m excited to welcome the cast of _Catching Feelings_. Shiro, Allura, Hunk, Pidge, Lance, and Keith.” The group walked out onto the set as the audience applauded and cheered for them. Keith was slightly nervous and Lance took it upon himself to sit next to him as a reassurance. He normally spoke about his music, and this being his first film interview, hoped he didn’t say something wrong.

Everyone greeted the show’s host, Gwen, before taking their seats. “Okay, I’m not sure about everyone else, but I’m extremely hyped for this movie. It’s so great to have you all here!”

“Thanks for having us!” Hunk replied, excitedly.

“Okay, I need to address you first, Keith. This is your first film. Your first major acting role. How does it feel? That must’ve been quite a transition.”

Keith chuckled lightly before answering. He felt Lance squeeze his knee gently. “Uh, well. It was different, but not entirely. I mean, for music, I can be held up in the studio for a couple days on end, and it’s the same with filming except you may or may not be stuck in front of a camera. We did have a lot of retakes in the beginning, but I think it’s gotten better.”

“He’s improved a lot since the beginning!” Allura chimed in.

“And, as for this movie, what was the most difficult thing to master?”

Keith took a minute to think about his answer. “I guess the most difficult thing to film so far are my fights with Shiro.”

“I remember after the first scene we filmed where we argued, he felt so bad, he came running up to me afterwards and apologized if he said anything hurtful,” Shiro said, grinning. Keith groaned as the audience laughed.

“That’s adorable.” Gwen smiled before continuing. “And Hunk, I know you and Lance are great friends in real life. How does your on-screen friendship feel compared to your off-screen friendship?”

“Sometimes, I really want to give him a big hug, ya know? There are moments when I actually did. I got in trouble for doing that in the end, but it can be hard being mean to him sometimes. Especially when his character is the way he is – you just want to wrap him in a warm blanket and feed him some chocolate and tell him everything will be alright.”

“Right, right. You guys all have connections. Pidge and Keith were friends before filming. Shiro…I don’t think I ever saw Keith without you somewhere nearby. I actually thought you were like his bodyguard or something. You and Allura are dating. Allura has worked a lot with Lance and Lance is friends with Hunk. Was there ever any awkwardness on set, or did everything seem natural?”

Pidge piped up immediately. “When watching the film, it will be hard to imagine how much the two leads didn’t get along in the beginning. It was like everything was a competition between the two, but one day it just disappeared. One of the many unsolved mysteries in the world.” They looked at Lance while saying that and Lance did his best to ignore their eyes burning a hole in the side of his head.

“Really? That’s interesting. So everything is fine now?”

“Yup!” Lance said quickly, his voice squeaking a little.

Gwen laughed. “Okay Lance. You’re a really fun person in real life. How did you manage to pull playing a no nonsense character?”

“Oh easy. I just channeled my inner Keith.”

Keith rolled his eyes, but bit his tongue. “I’m not that boring,” he muttered under his breath.

As Gwen asked the others another question, Lance leaded over. “Now I know you aren’t, but when I first met you, you kinda were. Plus you have some really serious songs that helped me with my character too,” he whispered in Keith’s ear.

Gwen noticed how Keith’s cheeks turned a slight shade of pink, but decided not to comment on it. “Thank you for joining us today! Everyone, go check out _Catching Feelings_ when it hits theaters near you!”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter: Lance gets new roommates


	13. Act 13: The History of Condoms

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  
> 
> God, it's literally been 9 months....  
> First of all, let me say I'm sorry for taking this long. I overestimated how much I could handle and then just kinda tossed writing aside so I could focus on school and adulting and what not.  
> Second, thank you for being patient with me. My gift to you is this almost 12k word chapter.  
> Third, the book that Allura reads to Lance is actually a real book that I own and for that scene, I had the book next to me and randomly flipped to pages for the different passages.
> 
> Before you continue, slight trigger warning. I don't want this to negatively affect anyone reading. There is slight homophobia towards the middle of the chapter (the end of scene 3) when Lance begins to think about the past.

* * *

_Scene I_

* * *

 

“Hi, we just had a friend admitted here for an emergency. Lance McClain, twenty two, tall Latino?” Pidge asked the receptionist at the front desk in the hospital. Keith had been holding Blue in his crate since he knew Lance would be worried about Blue and the cat was worried about his owner.

She began typing on the computer. “He’s in room 563 being examined. There’s a waiting room on that floor.” She handed Pidge two visitor’s passes and pointed them to the elevator. “I’ll let the nurse know you’re with him.”

“Thank you!” they said as they took the stickers and pulled Keith to the elevator. Inside, they put one sticker on their chest and the other on Keith’s.

Keith let Pidge pull him around in a dazed state. Any rational person would assume Lance passed out from overexertion or lack of sleep, but Keith let his fears get the best of him. His ming kept thinking of the worst-case scenarios and he didn’t know how to stop.  He hadn’t been to a hospital in the longest time because he kept thinking back to Shiro and the accident, so he avoided it in general. Pidge or Matt would always take Shiro to physical therapy and now that was Allura’s job.

No matter how hard Keith tried to avoid the hospital, there was no avoiding this. He was too worried about Lance to let his past prevent him from making sure he was okay. He did his best to block out any memories of the past and focused on the present. Lance, not Shiro.

The door opened and Keith let Pidge guide him to a chair.

“Keith, breathe. He’s gonna be fine.” Keith didn’t reply, nor did he listen to Pidge. “Look at me!”

Keith slowly turned to look at them.

“Lance is going to be okay. They could have told us he was going into surgery, but he isn’t. He fainted. Probably from over-working himself.” Pidge knew they had to remain calm for Keith, but on the inside, they were just as concerned.

Keith simply nodded. Pidge could tell what kind of things were running through his mind.

“Party for Lance McClain?” a nurse said as she looked at the clipboard in her hand.

Keith shot out of his seat. “Is he okay?”

The nurse gave Keith a warm smile and gestured for him to follow her. “He’s fine, he’s just sleeping right now. Primary examination showed that he was malnourished, overworked, and anemic. We want to keep him a few days to make sure those are his only health concerns.”

Keith nodded and felt himself relax the slightest.

“I can take you to see him.” Keith and Pidge followed her close behind. “He should wake up soon.”

Keith stood outside the room and hesitated. “Can we…go in?”

“Yes, you can. Does he have family we should contact?”

Keith opened his mouth to reply but Pidge beat him. “We already contacted them.”

The nurse opened the door for the two. “Does he have insurance?”

“No,” Keith responded.

She jotted that down. “We’ll see what we can do –“

“I’ll cover the bills.” Keith was on autopilot. He knew that he shouldn’t be spending more money since he still had to pay rent and Shiro’s bills, but he couldn’t let Lance deal with the stress of his hospital bills. He wouldn’t let Lance overwork himself again.

“Okay, I’ll need your information which we can begin up front.”

Keith nodded and began to follow the nurse. Pidge grabbed his arm. “Keith! You can barely make your other payments!” They tried to keep their voice low, but was too shocked to actually do so.

“The season ended today so I can pick up some extra shifts and talk to my boss.”

They reluctantly let go of his arm. “If you know what you’re doing.”

The nurse looked between the two students. “Shall I come back?”

“No. Let’s do this.”

The nurse walked with Keith to the front desk on the floor and handed him a clipboard. “Fill everything that is related to you and everything that is related to Lance, you can leave blank. I can go over it with him once he’s up and lucid.”

Keith flipped through the pages real quick and nodded. He began to fill out the papers, not remembering that his information was already on file for Shiro. Pidge rolled their eyes and pulled Keith into the room to finish filling out the papers.

“Idiot,” they muttered under their breath.

The nurse in the room smiled at them both as he continued to take Lance’s vitals. Once he noted everything down, he left quietly. Keith fully immersed himself in the paperwork, taking longer than he needed in order to avoid looking at Lance. Every time he glance up at Lance, he got flashes of Shiro after the accident. Keith knew that if he stared at Lance too long, he would break and have a panic attack and that was the last thing anyone needed right now.

A couple hours went by and Keith dragged out the paperwork as much as he could. At the end of the day, he couldn’t spend hours on paperwork where a majority of it was based on the unconscious man in the hospital bed. Pidge had left with Blue since neither of them had slept all night. They wanted to get Blue some food and make sure he was taken care of for Lance. Keith let them go and promised to stay until someone else could watch Lance. Keith ended up calling Hunk to tell him what happened and Pidge told Allura and Shiro.

Lance slowly blinked a few times. His entire body hurt, he felt exhausted, and he was cold. “..wh...?” His tongue felt heavy in his mouth.

Keith looked up. “Lance?”

Lance hummed. He blinked a few more times, the light making it hard for his eyes to adjust.

“How are you feeling?” Keith slowly felt his fear melt away, as relief flooded him.

Lance ignored the question. “What…happened?”

“You passed out.”

“I…what?”

“You don’t remember?”

Lance slowly shook his head, the world spinning slightly. “Last thing I remember was…” Lance thought back to the night before. “Setting the table.”

Keith gave him a moment to see if he could recall anything else before continuing for him. “You went to get the sauce and passed out.”

“Shit,” Lance murmured. He closed his eyes and relaxed in the bed. “I’m in the hospital, aren’t I?”

“Yeah.”

“Fuck.”

A few minutes went by without the two speaking. Lance knew that whatever he would say now would just sound like an excuse. He didn’t know what to say to fix this since he couldn’t do anything.

The relief trickled away and he felt the next emotion begin to surface. Exhaustion. “Why didn’t you talk to me?” Keith asked quietly. “I could’ve helped.”

Lance opened his eyes at the sound of Keith’s voice. He didn’t sound mad like he expected. He sounded tired, but Lance could hear the sadness in his voice. It was barely noticeable, but Lance caught it. The only other time he had ever heard Keith sound like this was the night he came over after his fight with Shiro. He looked over at Keith who was looking up at the silent television on the wall.

“I thought I would be okay.” Lance truly thought he would be fine. He turned his attention back to the ceiling.

“Lance,” Keith sighed. “You’re not alone anymore. When I say that I’m here, I mean it.”

Lance began to feel the tears form in his eyes. He tried to blink them back. “I…”

“I need to go get the nurse now that you’re up. Just…rest.” Keith got up out of his chair and left the room.

Lance wanted to sink into the bed and let the uncomfortably hard mattress eat him whole. Keith never looked at him. He knew that Keith hadn’t been watching him before, but even during their conversation, Keith never looked at Lance. He didn’t understand why this hurt him so much. Was Keith mad at him? Did he just fuck up this relationship that he had been working so hard to maintain?

Honestly, Lance couldn’t picture his life without Keith now. He brought a new light to his life. Keith was like a breath of fresh air. He was someone Lance didn’t want to lose. Sure, Lance wasn’t comfortable being his old self most of the time, but occasionally, around Keith, he slipped into an old habit, or would say or do something that his old self would say or do. Lance didn’t know what this meant, but he felt bad for worrying Keith.

Keith walked back in with the nurse who helped him with the paperwork. She smiled at Lance began to check vitals. “Hi Lance, how are you feeling?”

“A little tired.” With the nurse’s help, he sat up.

“To be expected after fainting. Do you remember what happened before you fainted?”

“I was setting the table for dinner…”

The nurse took Lance’s blood pressure. “We found that you have low iron, electrolytes, and various other signs of malnourishment. Have you been eating lately?”

“I…” Lance began. He shut his mouth and shook his head. From the corner of his eye, he saw Keith looking at the heartrate monitor, frowning.

“Along with being sleep deprived,” the nurse was writing as she spoke to Lance, “that’s why you fainted. We’re going to keep you here a couple of days to make sure all your levels are back to a healthy range. Call me if you need anything.” She checked the IV levels once before leaving.

As soon as the nurse shut the door, Lance spoke. “Keith, I can explain –“

“Lance.” Keith let out a deep breath. “Just get some rest.”

Lance stared at his hands in his lap as Keith left the room. He wiped a few tears that fell. Lance knew for a fact that Keith was disappointed. He didn’t know why it hurt so much, but it did. He couldn’t even bring himself to look at Lance.

Out in the hall, Keith called Allura. She answered right away.

“Keith? Is Lance alright?”

Keith sighed. “He’s awake now.”

“Thank goodness.”

He didn’t give her much time to enjoy the stress being lifted. “I had a couple questions – requests actually.”

“Go ahead.”

“The first is if you pick up the next payment for Shiro?”

“Of course,” she replied in a heartbeat.

“The second…Lance hasn’t been eating or sleeping and I was wondering if you or Hunk could have him stay with you for a week or so and watch him. Make sure he’s taking care of himself?”

This time, Allura hesitated. “I’m sure we can work out a rotation. But neither of us have a spare room. Hunk is living with Shay.”

“I can’t see him like this…It’s reminding me too much of Shiro and…I can’t.”

”Keith. He’s not Shiro. He wasn’t in an accident. Lance is awake. All he needs is food and sleep. I can talk to Coran to give Lance a paid leave for the time being, since we’re just reviewing for the final. We can keep someone with him at all times.”

Keith bit his lip as he thought about it. “I guess.”

“We will work this out. Go stay with him, he needs you.”

“Thank you, Allura.”

“Call me if anything happens. Thanks for letting me know he’s alright. I’ll tell the others.”

“Mhmm.” Keith hung up and stared at the room door. Instead of going back inside, Keith bought himself some more time by going to finalize a payment plan for Lance. Keith obviously couldn’t pay the bill up front so he wanted to do something monthly. With Allura helping out with Shiro, he shouldn’t have a problem working out a short term plan.

Once that was settled, he went back to Lance’s room. He was going to have to talk to him eventually, so he might as well just do it instead of avoiding the inevitable future.

Lance quickly sat up in his bed when Keith came back in. “Keith I…” He felt the tears forming again as Keith looked down at the bed and not at Lance.

“I covered the payments so don’t worry about it. Allura is going to talk to Coran about a sick leave. You’ll have someone with you for the next couple of weeks.” Keith noticed Lance clench the sheets.

Lance heard everything Keith was saying, but chose to ignore it for the time being. He needed Keith to know his side of the story. He needed to justify his actions, if not for the sake of their friendship, then at least for the sake of Lance’s sanity.

“I fucked up. It was just a string of bad things happening…” The tears began to fall no matter how hard he tried to blink them back. “Blue got sick and I had to take him to the vet. I barely had enough saved to cover his bills. My garden was empty and nothing was ripe. I just…I couldn’t afford anything and then this happened. I thought everything was going to be okay.”

Keith watched as Lance completely broke down. He wanted to look away, even leave the room to give Lance some space. It wasn’t his place to be here right now, it was Hunk’s or even Allura’s. Lance was just a friend, nothing more, nothing less. Yet Keith couldn’t get Allura’s words out of his head.

_He needs you._

Those words were all it took for Keith to sit next to Lance on the bed and pull him into a sideways hug.

“I hate living like this…” he cried. “But-but I can’t do anything about it until I graduate.” Lance began to sob into Keith’s shoulder. He rubbed Lance’s back in attempted to help him calm down. “I hate this so much.”

“I’ve been offering to help you for the past couple weeks. I may not have much, but I still could’ve provided you with food at least. I just hope the next time you need help, you’ll ask.” Keith spoke quietly, but he knew Lance had heard him when he tried to control his sobs.

“I know…I’m sorry. I’m so sorry for saying no. I just – I’m just so used to being on my own that –“ Lance hiccupped and his sobs became uncontrollable. “I wasn’t expecting Blue to get sick!”

The more Keith listened to Lance, the more he thought ‘maybe it’s good that the others didn’t see him like this’. This was a moment of weakness and if the others knew how awful he was actually feeling, Lance would shield himself even more.

“We don’t expect a lot of things in life.” Lance began to hyperventilate. “Lance, you need to breathe.”

“I’m trying.”

Keith pulled away from Lance and turned to face him. “Look at me.” Lance looked up at Keith. “You will be okay. You’re not alone anymore. Now take a deep breath.” Lance took a shaky deep breath. “And let it out slowly.” Lance hiccupped as he let out the breath. “Do it again. Big inhale.”

Lance took a deep breath and wiped his eyes as he let it go. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I know this is probably hard on you because of Shiro.”

“Whatever happened, happened. We just need to move on.”

Lance wiped more tears away and rested his head on Keith’s shoulder. “I feel terrible…”

“You need to rest. You’ll feel better once you have more energy.”

Before Keith got the chance to get up, Lance grabbed his shirt. “Stay…please…”

Keith looked at Lance. He looked so broken. “Okay.” He leaned back on the bed, with Lance’s head back on his shoulder. His breathing was still really shaky, but he was calmer than before.

Soon, Lance’s breathing had evened out. Keith was relaxed, but couldn’t bring himself to go to sleep. He knew that he should be sleeping right now but his mind wouldn’t calm down, even after how much energy he spent tonight. His stress finally died down and he was replaying the night in his mind. He wiped away a stray tear.

* * *

_Scene II_

* * *

 

A nurse came by around 8 AM to check on Lance. Keith, who hadn’t slept most of the night (maybe an hour or two) gave her what he hoped looked like a smile. At some point in the night, Lance completely shifted his body so he was cuddling with Keith. He arm and leg were draped on Keith, but it gave him a little more room on the bed so he didn’t push Lance away.

“Are you alright, Mr. Kogane?” she asked as she changed out Lance’s IV.

“Yeah, I am.”

“You look like you could use some sleep yourself. I can arrange for another bed.” She began to check vitals.

“I tried to sleep but I couldn’t turn my brain off.”

“That’s normal when loved ones –“

A knock from the door interrupted her. “Can I come in?”

Keith looked over and saw Hunk peeking his head in.

“Yes. I’ll be back in a couple hours with food. Everything appears to be normal for Lance.” She walked passed Hunk as he entered the room.

“How is he?” Keith couldn’t figure out how Hunk was feeling from his face.

“Okay. Finally resting.”

“I can watch him for a while. You should go home and get some sleep.”

Keith let out a dry chuckle. “I’m actually an hour late for work. My phone died.”

Pidge, as if waiting for their cue, walked in. “I actually called you off.”

“What? Why?”

“I figured you wouldn’t get any sleep, so you’re on bed rest too.”

Keith groaned. “Pidge, I need those hours more than ever now.”

“And you’ll make them up. I’m sorry but you working a full day without any sleep is asking for another bad thing to happen.”

Keith didn’t argue because he knew they were right. He had gone to class without any sleep, but it was another thing to be on his feet, constantly moving and thinking all day.

“C’mon, I’ll take you home.”

Hunk helped lift Lance off of Keith without waking him up. Keith slid out from under Lance. He walked out of the room, taking one final look at Lance, before following Pidge back to their car.

“Where’s Blue?”

“At our place. I rooted around Lance’s house for more food for him and I found some meds. Looks like Blue was bit by a tick and has Lyme disease.”

“Yeah…” Keith recalled Lance mentioning that Blue got sick. “He told me.”

“So I’ve been taking care of him.”

“Thanks.”

Pidge shrugged. “It’s the least I could do.”

The rest of the drive was silent. Pidge wanted to ask what happened, but they kept their mouth shut. They knew it was hard on Keith right now, even if this was completely different than Shiro.

Pidge parked in their usual spot, thankful that no one had taken it. “Let’s get you to bed.”

Keith just walked up the steps and stood outside the door as he waited for Pidge to unlock it. He went straight to bed, not bothering to change or even take off his shoes. Blue was already curled up on top of his sheets and he moved closer to Keith once he had settled on the bed. Finally, after a whole twenty four hours of stress, work, classes, and more stress, Keith was finally able to turn off his brain and go to sleep.

* * *

Lance woke up feeling a little stiff and cold. He immediately noticed the lack of Keith on his bed and sat up. “Where’s Keith?”

Hunk looked up from the magazine he was reading. “Hey, how are you feeling?”

“Tired and hungry.” Lance wasn’t a morning person and waking up in a hospital was far from ideal. It was manageable when Keith was with him, but now even he was gone. He also knew that if Hunk was here, there was no way he was getting out of being lectured.

“I’ll go get you some food.”

Lance watched as Hunk left the room without answering his question. He laid back down and curled up a little. Keith left without saying anything. Was he mad? Or was he just trying to make sure Lance got his sleep? He didn’t know, but he would much rather have woken up with Keith next to him.

He closed his eyes. What was it about Keith that made his feel so safe with him? Even when Keith couldn’t look at him and tried to avoid talking to Lance, he was still there and Lance knew that everything would be fine. He felt safe after such a long time.

The nurse from the day before walked in with Hunk following her. “Good morning, sleep well?”

Lance straightened himself out and rolled onto his back. “I slept fine.” He didn’t try to hide the annoyance in his voice.

“He’s not really a morning person.”

The nurse pulled over a stand for the tray and placed it down in front of Lance. “He’s not the worst I’ve had. Some have very colorful language, others don’t even talk.”

Lance sat up. “Normally I don’t.” He eyed the food and began to eat it, figuring if he didn’t eat this, he would get another lecture from the nurse on top of the impending one from Hunk.

“Yeah, he normally glares at everyone…”

Hunk pulled out his phone to update Pidge.

 **Hunk:** He’s awake and eating. How’s Keith?

“Well I feel privileged. Everything looks fine by the way, so I’ll leave you alone now. Just press the button on the side of your bed if you need me for anything.”

Lance didn’t reply to her as she walked out.

 **Pidge:** He fell asleep, and that’s good

Hunk had taken his place in the chair again, now scrolling through his phone.

“Is Keith okay?” Lance finally asked.

“Yeah, he is.” Hunk didn’t look up from his phone. “You gave him quite the scare last night, ya know.”

Lance felt slightly better. “I know. That’s why I was asking about him.”

“He’s home. Pidge called him off work today.”

Lance settled back down in the bed. “That’s good. I am sorry. For scaring everyone.”

“Lesson learned?”

Lance glared at Hunk from the corner of his eye. “It’s not like I was trying to deceive anyone.”

“But now you know we’re here to help? This isn’t like the past. You have people who want to help you.”

“I know, I realize that. Sometimes I just forget to ask.”

Hunk rolled his eyes. “Mhmm, and sometimes you purposely don’t tell –“

“Because I don’t want to worry anyone.”

“ – You’re human Lance. You have a breaking point.”

“I know, I reached mine last night,” he stated bluntly.

“And are you seriously going to think that this didn’t worry anyone?! Keith was practically in tears! Pidge had to calm him down because he didn’t know what happened and was seconds away from a panic attack! This morning, he was planning on going in to work even after he didn’t get sleep. Don’t even get me started on how worried Allura was. She didn’t tell Shiro until this morning when he asked her why she never went to bed last night. Stop acting like you don’t need anyone because out of _all of us_ , you need someone to be there _for you_ the most.”

All Lance could do was look away. He wasn’t about to tell Hunk he was right. He wouldn’t be that weak.

“How many time do I have to tell you, it’s okay to lean on people from time to time? That’s why you have friends. Lance, if you don’t want us to help, just say the word and we’ll stop caring. It’s so hard to constantly deal with you being so closed. Just for once, let down that wall and be vulnerable.”

Lance wiped his eyes quickly and ran his hand through his hair. “I know okay…I know. But you’re fighting years of habit. I’m fighting them too.” Lance sighed. He wasn’t going to break down like he did last night, mostly because he knew that Hunk would grow more concerned and he would get another speech. “Did Pidge give Blue his meds?”

“Yes.”

“Okay…” Lance leaned back, wanting to lie down, but the bed was still in its half sitting position. He was too tired to fix it, so he just turned his back to Hunk and cuddled his pillow.

* * *

_Scene III_

* * *

 

A couple hours went by without either of them saying a word to each other. He grew accustomed to the quiet and jumped when he heard Allura’s voice.

“Hey Lance, how are you?”

“Nursing my wounds from being lectured by Hunk.” He was staring out the window.

Hunk simply got up and muttered a later.

“Bye.” He sat up and watched his best friend who was pissed at him leave. “I’m feeling like everyone is pretty upset with me, and I’m at a loss on how to make it better. But all I can do is rest in this damn bed. And then the doctor said to take a month to rest more.”

Allura sat down next to Lance on the bed. She grabbed one of his hands and held it between hers. “If it’s anything, I’m not mad.”

Lance squeezed her hand. “Yeah, but I worried everyone. You didn’t get any sleep. Made Keith relive memories that he should never have to revisit.”

She gave him a warm smile. “Do I look sleep deprived to you? I’m okay. And Keith had to face this sooner or later. He never goes with Shiro to PT so this was good for him. I’m just upset with myself that I didn’t notice something was wrong sooner.”

“Yeah well, you know me. I’ll make sacrifices for others before I take care of myself. And that’s what I did.” Lance shrugged.

“It’s not your fault that Blue got sick. I also spoke to Coran and he and Thace said that you’re taking the rest of the semester easy. All you’ll be doing is grading any late essays and you’ll be paid the same.”

Lance sat up straight. “What? But the lectures? I was helping all of you review the books for the final.”

“Coran said he can do them.”

“Okay,” Lance sighed. He knew the last person he wanted to argue with was Allura and Coran. They were an impenetrable wall when they were together.

Allura let go of Lance’s hand and fishes a few books out of her bag. “I also brought you a few books to help pass the time.”

“I can’t really read them. My glasses…”

She let out a dry chuckle. “Silly me.” She put them back in her bag and stared down in her lap. The overwhelming feeling of seeing Lance okay, yet helpless broke her heart. She thought of Lance as a little brother, but she didn’t even notice when he wasn’t well.

“You could…read them to me. Not having anything to do is driving me nuts. Which ones do you have?”

Allura let out a shaky breath. “Dante’s Inferno, Halmet, and The Book of Totally Useless Information.”

“The Book of Totally Useless Information. We can probably laugh at something in there.”

Allura pulled out the small book and opened to a random page. She laughed as she read the title of the page. “ _Who invented the first condom._ ”

Lance suppressed a smile. “Of course that’s the first page you open to.”

Allura sniffed and began to read. “Condoms have been with us for much longer than you might have imagined…” She finished up on that section.

Lance grimaced that the new information, not knowing that it was a bit gruesome. He shouldn’t have been surprised, but he couldn’t help the look of disgust on his face. Allura tried not to laugh and flipped to a new page.

 _“_ _How did the disease cancer come to be named after a constellation of the Zodiac?_ ” She read the small paragraph out loud with Lance correcting her Greek.

“Huh,” was all Lance could say after listening. He leaned on Allura a little, avoiding looking at the book and giving himself a headache.

_“_ _Why aren’_ _t any two snowflakes alike?”_

“Isn’t that because of ice crystals?” Lance asked before she had the chance to start reading.

She nodded. “It has to do with how the water molecule freezes and as it falls to the earth, more water droplets clump together and form a crystal.”

“Makes sense.”

_“_ _What is the origin of the legend that storks bring babies?”_

This went on for about another hour, with Lance adding his own commentary on the random topics and Allura trying not to laugh too hard. This was the first time Allura had seen Lance with his guard down and being himself. She couldn’t help but smile while seeing Lance make stupid jokes and act horrified by some of the things he heard. Neither of them realized Shiro was standing at the foot of the bed until he spoke.

“Hey guys.”

Allura looked up feeling much better than when she had when she first walked in. “Hey.”

Lance looked at Shiro with a smile. “Hi Shiro.”

“How was PT?” Allura asked, closing the book.

Shiro walked over to her side and kissed her head. “It went fine. How are you holding up Lance?”

“I’m here, in bed, like the doctors want me.” Allura gently hit Lance in the chest with the book. “Ow, it’s true.” He rubbed his chest and pouted.

Shiro laughed. “You seem to be doing well all considering.” From the small amount of time he had been in the room, Shiro noticed how…free Lance seemed. This wasn’t the Lance he knew. This was the Lance Hunk grew up with.

Allura turned back to Shiro. “Did you ask when we can take him home?”

“Yeah, tomorrow should be good.”

“Can it be today?” he asked with hopeful eyes.

“Did they get all the test results back?”

Shiro shook his head. “They’re waiting on one more, but they want to keep him back for observations.”

Lance dropped back on the bed and groaned. “Can’t they just say I’m fine and let me go?”

Allura patted Lance’s knee. “Looks like you’re staying the night. Is Hunk staying here tonight?” she asked Shiro.

“I’m actually not sure.”

“I don’t need to be baby sat.” He pouted.

“You do,” she retorted. Lance crossed his arms and rolled his eyes.

Shiro pulled the chair closer, placing Allura’s bag in his lap. “We can relax for the moment though.”

She leaned back on the bed with Lance. “We’re going to have to get his stuff for a couple weeks.”

“Why?” Lance asked before Shiro could reply. “I can stay at my place and all of you can visit.”

“Nope, you’re staying at Keith’s and Pidge’s.”

Lance opened his mouth, but Shiro beat him. “Doctors want you with someone at all times.”

Lance shut him mouth and glared at the wall. “Great.”

“You brought this upon yourself. And they’re the only ones with an extra room,” Allura pointed out.

“Okay, that make sense.” Lance’s gaze softened and his voice got quieter. “But are Keith and Pidge okay with that.”

Lance didn’t turn to the two, but from the corner of his eye, Lance saw Allura nod.

“It shouldn’t be too much of an adjustment for you. You’ve been spending a lot of time with both of them lately.” Lance noted the lack of annoyance in Shiro’s voice as he spoke of his brother, but bit his tongue.

“And you’ll have all the food,” Allura chimed in.

Lance’s glare returned but this time he was looking at Allura. She gave him a bright smile. Lance kept his mouth shut though.

The three of them talked a little more, carefully avoiding the topic labeled Keith, for another hour before Shiro and Allura had to leave.

For the first time since Lance was in the hospital, he was alone. The only sound in the room was the heart rate monitor. He didn’t know why it was still in here because Lance didn’t have a heart problem. He had an eating and sleeping problem, which worried all of his friends.

Lance hugged his knees. His parents got rid of him because he was bi and it tarnished their perfect name. He remembered going to church with his family every Sunday and learning that a huge part of himself was wrong. He would pray at night, asking God to not make him gay. As a child, as a seven-year-old, he was constantly stressed over the fact that liking boys was a sin. Lance sighed and leaned back in his hospital bed.

Now that he was thinking about it, having him out of the house was probably so much easier for them. To cover up his insecurities and internal problems, Lance tended to act out in certain ways. He never wanted anyone to figure out his sexuality so he would flirt with girls like crazy. He had a bad habit of getting in trouble in class for talking too much. He would get into fights and stick up for kids being bullied . A sad chuckle escaped Lance’s lips as he remembered how much he tried to stress his masculinity. He acted over the top, yet in didn’t help him in the end. He still got kicked out of his house. He still lost his family. They still thought he was a sinner.

No matter how hard Lance tried, it was hard for him to keep his old self down nowadays. He didn’t want to become that loud-mouthed boy who used charm to win over the hearts of girls, all to hide his attraction to boys. Allura always pushed him to act like his old self. Hunk didn’t like how quiet and reserved he had become. And now Keith. Somehow, Keith managed to get Lance to act like his old self without even meaning to. Was it the comfort Lance felt around Keith? Or was it that Keith was so comfortable with who he was, that Lance feels comfortable as well?

Lance recalled how his parents got called into school a lot because of him, and once he was out of the house, the stress of how he would mess up next probably left them. It was probably easier for his siblings too. He was out of the house, they didn’t have to cut down on expenses as much, and there was more space in the house, more food to eat.

Why was Lance thinking about all this right now?

He knew why. He never stopped thinking about this. It was always in the back of his mind, hiding, waiting until Lance had absolutely nothing to do so it could rear its way into his mind. It was one of the reasons he kept himself so busy all the time.

All the thoughts in Lance’s mind eventually lulled him off to sleep. The memories of his past kept flashing through his mind before he got tired from all the emotions coursing through him. It was the first time thinking of the past lead to him falling asleep, but that could have also been due to how exhausted he had been over the last couple of days.

* * *

_Scene IV_

* * *

 

Lance woke up groggy and looked around the room. He sat up and wiped the drool away from the corner of his mouth. He blinked as he couldn’t remember where he was. Slowly the events of the last four days came back to him. He was in a hospital. Because he was a grown-ass man who couldn’t take care of himself.

“Ya ready?”

The voice surprised Lance. He looked over and saw Pidge with a small duffel bag. A nurse followed behind Pidge and wrapped Lance’s arm where he had the IV.

“I have been ready since yesterday.”

Pidge rolled their eyes. “We’re stopping at the eye doctors on the way back.”

Lance sighed. “Okay.” He knew there was no fighting Pidge, especially after the episode he just had.

They place the bag on the bed. “Here’s some clothes.”

“You’re good to go Lance. Your friend has already checked you out. Take care of yourself okay?”

Lance pulled away from the nurse once she was done. He grabbed the bag and headed to the small bathroom attached to the room. “Yeah, I don’t really plan on coming back.”

“You better not,” Pidge said, not looking up from the phone.

Lance closed the bathroom door behind him. “With all of you hovering, I doubt it’s really going to happen.”

“Because if it does, Keith might have an actual heart attack. And then we’ll be back here again, and repeat the entire process.”

Lance grimaced to himself. “We wouldn’t want that, would we?” He said that to himself more than to Pidge. He stepped back out, fully clothed and thankful to be out of that uncomfortably thin sheet they call a hospital gown. He waved to the nurse as they walked out of the hospital.

Pidge pulled out of the parking lot and onto the main street. “Doing better?”

“Yeah.” Lance didn’t want to admit it, but he was more than just better. He loved the feeling of the sun on his skin. He didn’t realize how the hospital air smelled like sanitation compared to the air outside. It smelled clean and fresh. He heard the birds chirrping, a sound that he missed.

Neither of them said anything after that one exchange. Lance desperately wanted some sort of conversation but he literally had nothing to talk about and Pidge wasn’t saying anything either. He had been alone with his thoughts for way too long and it was driving him insane.

They reached the eye doctors office and Pidge signed Lance in. They both sat in silence as Pidge filled out some paperwork.

New glasses meant new expenses. And everyone knew Lance didn’t have the money to cover this. “Who’s covering this?”

“Me. And I’m not going to listen to your excuses.”

“Like I could argue last time.”

Lance was called in quicker than he expected. He followed the doctor into a room and took a seat in the cold chair. Lance went through the whole process of figuring out his new prescription after answering all the doctor’s questions. He did his best not to snap at the doctor – it wasn’t the doctor’s fault that Lance had gotten himself thrown in the hospital. He handed Lance a new prescription. “Just take this to the shop next door and you can get your glasses there.”

Lance took the paper and thanked the doctor. He went to the shop next door with Pidge following behind.

“I’m going to have to get new frames…”

“Okay,” they said not seeing the problem. “Then get them.”

After going through the frames, Lance settled on a simple black pair that was similar to the ones he currently had. Pidge paid for them, noting down the day they should be ready.

“Now home. Do you want to eat anything?”

“I’m not that hungry. Maybe just a snack.”

Pidge nodded and drove home. Lance wasn’t sure if Pidge was mad at him or if they just didn’t want to talk to him because they hadn’t had awkward silence between them since before Lance met Keith. They unlocked the door and headed to the kitchen to fish out a key for Lance.

Pidge immediately headed to the kitchen and started digging through a drawer. “Blue has been in Keith’s room, you’ll find him in there. You know where the guest room is. I think the spare key is in there since it isn’t here…I’ll get you some food.”

“Okay.” Lance left Pidge to find Blue. He was were Pidge said he would be. Blue was curled up on top of what Lance assumed was Keith’s jacket, grooming himself. When Lance walked in, Blue immediately got up and jumped onto him.

“Hey buddy, sorry to scare you.”

From the living room, Lance heard Pidge’s voice. “Keith also set everything up in the bathroom so it’s good to go if you want to shower. Your clothes are in a small suitcase in the guest room.”

Lance left Keith’s room, hugging his cat. “Thanks Pidge.”

“Yup.” They placed a plate on the dining table with some vegetables and hummus.

Lance sat down and Blue climbed up on his shoulders. He made a face when he saw the carrots but figured he wasn’t in any place to complain.

“You guys aren’t mad at me, are you?”

Pidge was quiet for a minute, trying to figure out how to word their reply without upseting Lance. Although they weren’t mad at Lance, they were upset that Keith was taking everything so hard. “I’m mad that you didn’t take the help when it was offered. Keith’s just…he’s relieved you’re okay.”

Lance started eating. “Can you blame me? I’ve been on my own for years. Not used to asking for help. But I really don’t want to be lectured anymore…Hunk already did that. Really well I might add.”

“Well, I guess you can’t teach an old dog new tricks…”

Lance winced. Even if it wasn’t a lecture, it was straight to the point and still hurt to hear. He knew Pidge was right. He needed to learn that it was okay to lean on people when he needed to. He wasn’t alone anymore.

Pidge began to wash some dishes that began to pile up. Lance finished his snack in more silence. He handed Pidge the dirty plate.

“I’m going to go shower. Thanks Pidge.”

“Yup.” They took the plate and cleaned it up.

Lance headed into the guest room, closing the door behind him. Right when Lance stepped into the shower, he heard Keith walk in.

Outside, Keith was moving in a hurry. “Alfor said he wants an update so he can make sure everything looks good. I’m going to work and I’ll be back around ten.” Keith quickly changed into his work clothes and headed out.

Pidge sighed, not being able to get a word in. They knew Keith was busier with his extra shifts and he barely had any free time. They got all the papers for the project and started working on a small presentation.

Lance walked out of the guest room and frowned after looking around. Keith was already gone.

“Was everything okay?” Pidge asked from the couch.

“He’s…” Lance stared at the door. “He’s really upset.”

“He’s not. He’s just working a few extra shifts.” Pidge didn’t think anything would convince Lance that Keith wasn’t mad, not even Keith telling Lance himself.

Lance didn’t know if he wanted to buy it. “I’m going to relax in the room. What are we doing for dinner?”

“ _We_ aren’t doing anything. As much as I love your cooking, you need to relax. I’m ordering pizza. Neither of us had time to go grocery shopping.”

“Oh. Okay.” Lance walked back into his room. Blue followed behind him.

* * *

Lance was brought out of his thoughts when the front door slammed shut. He was sitting on the couch with Blue, writing in his journal.

Keith grimaced. “Sorry, my bad. But, I’m home and have food.” Keith kicked off his shoes and placed the pizza boxes on the coffee table.

Lance closed his journal. “Hi.”

“Hey. How are you feeling?”

As much as Lance wanted to give Keith a smile to show him that he was feeling better, he just couldn’t bring himself to do so. “Glad to be out. How was your day?”

“Tiring.”

Pidge walked out of their room. “I have a small presentation ready to go whenever.”

“Okay. I’m gonna shower. You two get started.”

Blue jumped onto Lance’s chest and meowed.

“Have fun.” Pidge grabbed some paper plates and handed one to Lance. Keith walked to the bathroom that he and Pidge shared without saying anything else.

“You’ve been fed already…” He place Blue on the ground. Lance noticed he didn’t take anything in with him. He figured he had his pajamas in there already.

“Has Blue been doing that a lot?” Pidge asked.

“He’s been pretty talkative ever since Keith has been around. Demands a lot more attention.” Lance eyed his cat. “I think he’s jealous that I’m just not giving him attention anymore.”

“They say animals and babies are the best judge of character. Maybe he’s trying to tell you something.” They plopped themself down in the recliner that was opposite of the two-seater couch Lance was on. They began to eat their slice.

“I’m beginning to see that.” Lance also began eating, while trying to fend off Blue. About half way through his slice, he saw the bathroom door open. He wasn’t really paying much attention until he saw Keith leave the bathroom in just a towel as he walked to his room. Lance felt his eye open wide and quickly looked away. His heart picked up speed a little and he didn’t know why he felt this way.

He didn’t realize, but he let out a small squeak that caught Pidge’s attention. “You okay…?”

Lance nodded and took another bite to avoid talking. Keith sat down on the couch, now dressed in his pajamas and grabbed a slice without getting a plate. He took the remote from the arm rest of the recliner and changed the channel to put on a movie.

Lance raised his eyebrows as Pidge tried to get the remote back from Keith, who held it far from their reach.

“I was working all freaking day, let me watch something I want to before I go.” Keith’s actions showed Lance that this was a common occurrence between the two.

Pidge crossed their arms in defeat. “Fine.”

Their lives seemed so mundane and simple. Lance smiled inwardly at the fact that he got to be here too. He didn’t know how much he missed living with someone else until now. He had gotten a glimpse with the weekly dinners, but those lasted three hours at most.

Everyone finished eating while watching the movie. Blue had found his way into Keith’s lap. He was absentmindedly petting the cat with his free hand.

Lance threw away his plate and sat back down with his journal after washing his hands. Blue scrambled out of Keith’s lap and over to Lance. He hopped onto Lance’s shoulders and Lance began to squint and write.

“Keep that up and you’ll get frown lines,” Pidge said as they took their plate and the boxes to the kitchen.

Lance glanced up as they walked by. “I basically already have them.” He scribbled some more in his journal.

“What are you even doing?” Pidge looked over Lance’s shoulder real quick, but decided to put the remaining pizza away instead of trying to decipher Lance’s writing.

“Writing. I can’t read from my computer until the new glasses are done, so,” Lance flicked his journal, “I’m back to the traditional ways.”

“Can you even see? Like, don’t you have a headache?” Keith asked.

“I can’t really, most of everything is blurry, but I can see my writing well enough. And the headache isn’t what it was for the last week or so.”

Keith frowned but let it go. He got up from the couch and stretched. “I’m going to study.” With that, Keith went to his room.

“You better be in bed by one. You have work tomorrow and I will check to make sure you’re sleeping,” Pidge said as Keith closed his room door.

Lace watched him leave. “Did I say something wrong? And what time is it?”

“It’s eleven. You didn’t say anything wrong. He’s just worried and sitting out here, watching you, isn’t going to change how he feels.” They turned off the television and sat down at the dining table with their books.

Lance closed his journal. “Everyone is worried and I have no idea how to reassure them.”

“Keith can be a bit of a worry wort. It’s a habit of his since Shiro. I remember once I cut myself while cooking and he wanted me to get it checked out in urgent care to make sure I didn’t need stitches. It was a lot closer to when Shiro had just healed from the accident. He’s slowly getting better, just give him some time. He’ll get over it.”

“Right.” Lance stood up, feeling less sure of Keith’s feelings than how he felt just a few minutes ago. “Well, I’m going to bed. Night.”

“Night.”

Lance thought about saying good night to Keith, but decided against it. He still felt like he messed up his words somewhere.

* * *

Keith looked down at the text to double check if he had the right apartment. 2317. He raised his fist to knock on the door, but it opened before he had the chance to do so.

“Yeah, yeah, I’ll be back soon. Quit nagging me, you sound like Ma.” Mira was looking over her shoulder and she tapped the top of her shoes on the ground. Keith noticed she just slipped them on her feet and didn’t fully put them on. She rolled her eyes, but her expression quickly changed to a knowing smirk when she saw Keith. “Lance,” she sang. “Your friend is here.”

She walked out without saying a word to Keith, her smirk never leaving her lips as she waved at him. Keith awkwardly waved back, unsure of how to react to everything.

Lance peeked down his hall and quickly disappeared. “Lance…?” Keith waited for a reply. “I’m coming in…” He walked in when he didn’t get a reply. The entrance hallway was relatively short and Keith dropped his stuff at the end of it as he took in Lance’s place. It was fairly modern, with a dark gray and white color theme. Keith wouldn’t have ever imagined Lance to have such a monochrome colored apartment, but at the same time, he wasn’t surprised.

“I never pegged you as a bookworm.” In front of Keith was an entire wall lined from ceiling to floor with books.

“Please, there are many things about me you don’t know,” Lance said directly over Keith’s shoulder.

Keith let out a small yelp and moved away as Lance held his stomach and laughed. “What is your problem?” he muttered under his breath.

Lance wiped his eye once he collected himself. “You want anything to drink?”

“I’m okay for now. So what did you have planned?”

“Well, we could watch Beauty and the Beast and I thought I could teach you some real dancing. Or do you want to exchange childhood stories?” Lance sat down on his couch that faced a television.

“I didn’t think you meant the literal sleepover from the movie. Am I sleeping in your bed tonight too?”  Keith wandered to the window behind the couch and pushed the curtain aside. The sun had just began to set and from Lance’s apartment, he had the perfect view of the city.

Lance moved the curtains so the dusk light filled the apartment. “It is big enough for the two of us.”

Keith looked at Lance from the corner of his eye. He knew Lance looked good in every type of lighting, but in that moment, he decided dusk looked perfect on him. “Nope, you have to sleep on the couch if I sleep in your bed. It’s all in the script.”

“Fine, We’ll go with Plan B,” Lance groaned. In reality, Lance was super excited. He was just waiting for Mira to get back home.

“So, my sister is a huge fan of yours – she’s actually how I found out about you – and I promised her that she would be allowed to ask you five questions as long as she picked up dinner. I just wanted her to get out of the house since she’s been in here all day. But I actually do have things planned. It involves a hair and face mask because I’ve seen that,” Lance gestured to Keith’s face and hair, “up close, and it’s not pretty.”

“What’s wrong with all this?” Keith mimicked the gesture Lance made.

“Your skin is as dry as the Sahara, your pores are bigger than gopher holes, and your mullet needs a an update on what century it’s in.”

Keith simply shrugged and moved to sit on the couch instead of choosing to argue with Lance. He had gotten used to Lance’s insults over the last few months and knew better than to argue with him over something he had more knowledge about than Keith did.

Lance sat down on the smaller couch next to Keith. “So, I see you brought work with you,” Lance said, nodding to the guitar bag Keith had set down when he entered.

“Oh yeah, I hope  you don’t mind. I have this one song I’m kinda stuck on and – if you don’t mind, of course – I was hoping you could help me out with it.”

Lance’s eyes widened. “Uh – y-yeah, I’d love to help.”

Keith smiled. “I’ll credit you as well – only if you actually help me, though.”

“I’m back bitches!” Mira shouted as she threw the door open. The two boys on the couch turned to face her.

“Mira!” Lance exclaimed out of surprise. His heart had been racing from the thought of helping Keith write a song, about being that intimate with him, and Mira’s grand entrance only elevated his heart rate. He watched Keith get up and walk over to her.

“That’s my name. I have food.” She placed two bags on the dining table. “I didn’t really know what to get, and I know Lance can never say no to a good garlic knot…” Keith noticed the glint in her eyes when she said that.

Lance stood up quickly, shaking his head. “Mira no, I told you only a couple more weeks. I definitely can’t gain weight right now, not with the next scenes coming up.”

“What did you bring?” Keith peeked into the bags.

“Italian food,” Lance spat, as if it was the most revolting thing in the world.

“Smells great.”

“C’mon Lance, it’s just one night!” Mira, despite being twenty one years old, stomped her foot and crossed her arms.

“It’s called bloating, Mira. Look it up. Salt and carbs tend to do that to people, especially when they’ve been dieting for months now.” He glared at his little sister, forgetting Keith’s presence.

“She’s only worried about you. Truth be told, I am too. It’s just one night. We can go on a midnight run if you’re that worried.”

Keith’s smile melted Lance’s annoyance away. After a few seconds, Lance gave up. “Fine.”

“Thank GOD. Now, let’s eat, Keith I have a million things I want –“

“Five,” Lance interjected as they all sat down.

“Five things I want to ask you. If you don’t mind, of course.”

Keith passed the box of garlic knots to Lance. “What’s up?”

Mira leaned forward on her arms that were resting on the table. “First, why did you say yes to the movie? You never struck me as the musician-turned-actor type.”

Keith chuckled. “I didn’t think I was either. Honestly, I might not do it again. Shiro told me about it, and suggested I audition. I wasn’t going to, but then he got Allura and my mom in on it. After that, I couldn’t say no.”

Mira nodded. “I see, I see. So you don’t think you’ll act again after this? Did Lance ruin the experience?”

“Hey!”

“Nah, he didn’t. It’s just been hard doing both acting and writing. Especially with the producers and other writers I have to work with. I can be hard meeting with them when I have to be on set. If I do any acting in the future, it might be a smaller role.”

“Speaking of music, is it true that you’re doing a duet with Allura?”

Lance’s eyes widened and his full attention was on Keith. Not that it wasn’t before. He just put his garlic knot down for this.

“I can get into a lot of trouble for this…but yeah. We recorded it before filming started.”

Mira squealed. “I’m. So. Ready!”

“Dude, how come I didn’t know about this?” Lance feigned a broken heart.

“Even Shiro doesn’t know about this, so neither of you will tell a soul.”

Both put up their right hands. “Scout’s honor,” they said in unison.

“Good.”

“Did you know Lance is quite the singer? Why don’t you _duet_ with him?” Mira grinned.

Lance kicked her under the table causing Mira to grimace and rub her shin. “You know Keith doesn’t have that kind of time. Plus, I’m not good enough to be on his album.”

“That’s not true. I’m asking for your help you write a song, aren’t I?”

Mira’s jaw dropped. “What?! My brother is going to help Keith Kogane write a song?!”

“And I believe that was five. No more questions out of you.” Lance resumed eating his third garlic knot.

“Not cool…”

Keith laughed. “Yeah, and I’m pretty sure he’ll be able to help me out. Something I learned really early on working with you is that you’re really creative.”

Lance faced down and shoved a garlic knot in his mouth to hide his blush and to avoid speaking to Keith any further. Although Lance couldn’t see her face, he could feel Mira’s smirk resonating in the air. Keith patted his shoulder and sighed, being used to this weird behavior from Lance now.

They finished their dinner, filling it with small talk mostly from Keith and Mira. By the time they all finished, Lance was worried about having to film their next scenes having gained weight.

As Mira was cleaning up, Keith turned to Lance. “It’ll be okay. No one will even notice.”

Lance pouted. “But my face…” He cupped his face with both his hands. “It’ll become round…”

“And you’ll probably make headlines for having chipmunk cheeks. More fans who love the relatable look as opposed to this stick you turned yourself into for the movie. I don’t really see a downside.”

Lance placed a finger to Keith’s lips. “Shh, no more. I don’t need Sage Keith right now.”

“Your finger smells like garlic,” Keith managed to say around the finger on his lips.

Before Lance had a chance to comment, Mira shouted from the kitchen. “What are we doing next?”

“ _We_ , aren’t doing anything. _You_ _’re_ going to go study and _Keith and I_ are gonna play some Mario Kart or something.”

“Then, _you and Keith_ can do all the dishes and clean up.”

Lance looked back at the dining table and then at Mira in the kitchen who had her hands on her hips. “I don’t know why I ever agreed to let you live with me…”

Keith tried not to laugh as he watch Lance help his sister clean up. They continued their night with some rounds of Mario Kart as Lance suggested earlier and ended their fun when Lance reminded Mira that she had to be up in five hours for her morning shift at the coffee shop.

Keith sat back down on the couch after grabbing his guitar case. “I really enjoy hanging out with your sister. She’s like you but more outgoing.”

Lance whipped his head around so fast, that Keith thought he got whiplash. “What do you mean ‘more outgoing’?”

“Like, you tend to be more reserved – if that makes sense. Like there are a lot of times I’ve noticed that you stop yourself before you say something and you don’t always say what’s on your mind. But Mira, she literally doesn’t care if she offends you and doesn’t dwell on whatever thoughts are running around in her mind.” Keith pulled out his guitar and began to tune it.

“UH, I have to think before I speak because need I remind you that I am an act-tour and I have cameras following and recording my every move.” Lance placed one hand on his chest and the other placed on his hip.

Keith smiled without looking up at Lance. “Sounds like an excuse. There are plenty of people out there who don’t care what they say and they’re in the same boat as you.”

Lance narrowed his eyes.

Keith cast a sideways glance at Lance. “Makes me wonder what’s going on in that head of yours.”

Lance stood straight and cleared his throat. “What did you need help with?”

“Oh right.” Keith pulled out a notebook from his guitar case. It was incredibly worn out and Lance didn’t understand how the pages were still attached. “I, uh,” Keith began to look for a page. “Needed help with a breakup song. I honestly haven’t been in a relationship that…tore my heart out? So I was thinking you could help me? I mean, you’re an actor so I was thinking that you might have had to go through this for a character or maybe in real life. Either or, I don’t really care, I just needed help with the lines becase I want them to be meaningful and something others can relate to –“

“Keith!”

Keith looked up with wide eyes, surprised by Lance shouting. “Dude, you’re rambling. You okay?”

“Y-yeah.”

“I’ve never seen you this…” Distraught, worked up, agitated, worried, distressed, anxious. “Nervous.”

Keith was nervous. He never worked with someone who didn’t live and breathe music. He didn’t know how Lance would react to the lyrics he had so far, or even if he would want to help him with everything after seeing how bad his draft was. But at the same time, Keith didn’t know why he cared so much about what Lance had to say about it. Maybe it was because they finally got to a good place in their friendship that Keith didn’t want to screw it up by saying something rude.

Keith just handed Lance his notebook without saying anything. He watched as Lance read the lyrics emotionlessly. Lance quietly placed the notebook down on the table and stood up.

“C’mon, I wanna take you somewhere.” Lance motioned for Keith to follow him as he walked to the front door. Keith followed, leaving behind all his stuff. They walked together in silenced as Lance got into the elevator and hit a floor button. Keith’s nerves grew as they exited the elevator and walked down another hallway. Lance opened a door and Keith was hit with the night’s cold air.

“After you,” Lance said holding the door open for Keith. He walked outside with Lance behind him. “I like coming up here when I need to get into a new character for the first time. I know it’s late, but I figured that was could look at the stars as we work on this. It helps me a lot.”

Keith simply nodded, still processing the view. They were on a terrace, several floors above Lance’s apartment. Standing there, Keith had a clear view of the entire city, all the back towards the mountains. He could see the cars driving on the streets like small, yellow and red ants. But at the same time, he didn’t hear any of the city noise that comes with living in a heavily populated area.

Lance chuckled. Sometimes he forgot the small things that could take people’s breath away. Most of the time, he forgot what beautiful things were around him himself.

Lance sat down on one of the lounge chairs. “So the first time someone broke my heart was actually the first person I had feelings for. He was my best friend, before Hunk and I even knew each other. I think I was in the fifth grade. Danny was my best friend growing up. We lived next to each other since we were born and our moms met at the neighborhood park.”

Keith took a seat next to Lance, forgetting the view and the stars above them.

“Anyway, I was in fifth grade when I started to think of Danny as more than a friend. We would talk about stupid things, like the newest toy cars we got, or our new record on a video game, and no matter how stupid or small, I wanted to hear everything he had to say. We had sleepovers all the time. And when we were twelve, I remember we were playing soccer and some guy from the other team stole the ball from Danny in a way that caused him to take a bad fall. I saw him clutching his leg and something in me snapped. I punched the guy and got benched for the rest of the season.

“Later, when I went to visit Danny in the hospital, he asked why I punched that guy in the face.” Lance closed his eyes. The memory of what happened over ten years ago felt like everything took place just yesterday and bringing it back up made him want to puke. “I told him it was because he broke his ankle. Danny didn’t buy that and asked if everything was okay with me. I honestly didn’t know what to say because I _didn_ _’_ _t know_ if everything was okay with me. My older brother only ever looked and spoke about girls the way I did with Danny. So I panicked and kissed him.” Lance became quiet for a moment. He let out a shaky breath before returning to his normal demeanor. “That is the story of how I ended up with a black eye, friendless, and a broken heart. He never spoke to me after that, and everyone in school bullied me for kissing a guy. When I told my mom everything, she told me that my feelings were valid and suggested homeschooling. Around the same time, I got scouted when I was out with her, shopping, and I started doing commercials and minor roles. So yeah, Danny broke my heart and I was scared of ever feeling that way towards another person – guy or girl. But I healed. I loved again. I broke up again –“

“Tiana?”

Lance leaned back in the chair. “Yup. That time it was public. My personal life was the front cover of every major magazine. On top of everything, I was in the middle of filming my first big movie so I didn’t have the time to be broken. And whenever I had any sort of fling, it always broke off before there was a chance to see if there was anything there. After a while, I gave up.”

“So why were you so freaked out about Nyma?”

“I guess. A part of me knew that even if we pretended to be together, there would be another messy breakup story and it would just take me back to a bad place.”

Keith nodded. “I honestly can’t imagine what you went through. Any of it.”

“Gee thanks,” Lance said dryly.

“I don’t mean it in a bad way. I may not be able to relate, but I can try to help. Use this song Lance. Say everything you want to say to them – to Danny, to Tiana, to Nyma, to the flings, to the bullies.”

Keith saw the fear in Lance even if he was acting like it wasn’t a big deal. “I don’t know Keith… I agreed to help you because I didn’t know what it was about. But this would take me to a place I don’t want to go back to.”

Keith knew this. As much as he didn’t want to push his friend to a place he didn’t want to go to, Keith genuinely though this would help. Music had always been his outlet for his problems. It always gave him the answers he was looking for. He wanted Lance to feel the same way. Get some closure. Not to be scared anymore.

“I’ve never had a black eye, but I got one before,” Keith began. “Everyone knows I live with my mom now, but I grew up as an orphan.”

Lance’s eyes shot wide open. This was news to him. “It wasn’t until I was eighteen when I found her. I grew up in a religious boarding school because I was too troublesome to keep at the orphanage, but there was this one priest I couldn’t stand. Let’s just say when you mix a teenager with anger issues and condescending teacher, someone ends up with a black eye and the other gets kicked out of school. After that, I got sent back to the orphanage and began looking for my birth mother. Once I was eighteen, I got kicked out of the orphanage and played on the streets to make money until I finally found her and she took me in.”

“You punched a priest in the face?!” Lance blurted out.

“That’s what you took away from the whole story?”

Lance composed himself. “Sorry, why did your mom give you up?”

“Her and my dad came from extremely different families. Neither of their families allowed them to be together. She got pregnant with me but had to give me up as soon as she had me. She tried looking for me, but all she gave me was a first name. You wouldn’t believe how many Keith’s are orphans.”

“What the shit dude, why did you have to go and tell me this?” Lance felt himself tear up. He wouldn’t be where he was without his family and to know that Keith never had one until recently really upset him.

“To show you that even during the most stormy weeks, the clouds will always part and the sun will shine again.”

The tears in Lance’s eyes immediately dried. “Please, never, speak like that again. It goes against the whole emo image thing.” He gestured towards Keith with both hands.

Keith laughed. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

Lance looked at the stars one last time before standing up. “We should probably get to bed. We have a long day tomorrow.”

Keith got up and followed Lance back to the apartment. Although this wasn’t the writing session he was expecting, it really did help him.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter: Lance gets asked out on a date


	14. Act 14: Will you go out with me?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact! This chapter and the next chapter were almost done when the file got corrupted and I had to rewrite both of them. Now, maybe you're thinking "rewrite BOTH of them" or maybe you just ignored this note, but yes! I have the next chapter done too! Just waiting on my beta (She is a busy adult with adult responsibilities and a bad sleep schedule) to go through the next chapter.
> 
> For all of you guys who stayed with me over my ~~fic's pregnancy~~ 9 month hiatus, I have good news! You won't have to wait like that again, because I'm planning on finishing this fic by the end of the year! I know that there aren't many chapters left, and I actually have most of it written out. So, my plan is to work on the remaining chapters a little bit each day, and maybe I can put out two chapters a month until I finish!
> 
> This is getting long, so imma end here. I hope you enjoy!

* * *

_ Scene I _

* * *

 

Lance walked into the lecture hall. It felt like ages since he had last been in there. He may have been there as a TA, but he knew Coran wouldn’t let him do anything he normally was allowed to do. It would be like he was a student in class now and Lance didn’t know if he would be able to handle doing nothing for an hour and a half. Right on cue, he heard his employer’s voice.

“Feeling better Lance?”

“Yeah, just been under house arrest due to the doctors.” He did his best not to sound bitter about his situation.

Coran looked at him with concern. “You’re not alone, are you? Because my house is always open to you.”

Lance waved his hand. “No, I’m staying with Pidge and Keith. Everyone has been stopping by to check on me. Thanks for the offer though.” He gave Coran a warm smile. He really did appreciate his offer, and he had wondered many times about what Coran’s house was like. 

“That’s great! I don’t have anything for you to do today, so you can have a seat and study if you like.”

“Thanks Coran.” Lance set up his stuff on the table up front, where he normally placed all his stuff when conducting lecture. He still didn’t have his new glasses yet, so he opted out on wearing any of his older pairs. He felt like he needed a walking stick to help him get around, but it was only for a couple more days and he didn’t want to risk having a migraine for the rest of the day.

“Lance?”

Lance looked up and saw Eric walking up to him. “Hey Eric, what’s up?”

“I’m just –“ Eric cut himself off. “Glad to see you’re feeling better.”

“Oh, thanks. It’s good to be out again.” Lance definitely felt more comfortable talking to Eric since he first met him. Yet, he couldn’t help the fact that he was still Eric’s TA and couldn’t be openly friendly with him. Lance still had a reputation even if it faltered a little after befriending Keith.

“Staying with Keith right?” Eric placed his stuff down in a seat directly in front of Lance. Eric was never one to sit in the front of the lecture hall, and Lance figured either Keith or Pidge said something to him about keeping an eye on Lance.

“Yeah, and Pidge.”

Eric cocked an eyebrow. “Hm, how’s that?”

Lance paused briefly to reflect on his time there so far. “It’s nice. Not quite used to having someone there all the time, but it’s okay.”

Eric chuckled. “You’ll get used to it. They behaving?”

“Yeah, set up a rotation for cooking dinner. It’s nice actually.”

Eric nodded. “I’m happy that you feel that way.”

“Thanks.” Lance give him, what he called his ‘TA smile’ and pulled out his journal, deciding to pick up where he left off the night before. Recently, it had been hard for Lance to fully dive into his writing. It wasn’t entirely due to his condition, rather the fact that his mind would always wander to other topics. The topics didn’t have a wide variation either. His mind would somehow always circle back to Keith. If he wasn’t thinking about how far he had come since they first met, he would think about how he never met Keith until that day he pulled Lance back from walking into traffic. He wondered how neither Shiro nor Allura ever brought him up before he met Lance and often imagined how his life would have been if no one pushed him to talk to Keith, or even if they never interacted.

These were the thoughts and questions he had for the last few weeks, but today…was different. He had been so focused, he didn’t even realize lecture ended. Coran had to nudge Lance’s shoulder to tell him class had ended. Coran hadn’t said anything to Lance as he left, but Lance understood the unspoken words.

_ ‘Don’t push yourself too hard.’  _

Lance packed everything up. Not wanting to go home since he finally found inspiration to write, he decided to go to the coffee shop. It had been a while since he had been there and he found himself missing its ambiance.

From the time he spent at the apartment, Lance learned Keith spent very little time there. If he wasn’t in class, he was in the library studying. If he wasn’t studying, he was working. It was easy to learn his schedule and Lance mentally went through it every day. Seeing how busy Keith was, Lance could only imagine how much worse it was during cross country season. Keith still went on runs, but he didn’t have to train the way Lance had seen when they first met. 

When Lance entered the shop, there was a line. He waited of course, but as he waited, he couldn’t stop himself from watching Keith. Lance had seen him working before, but right now, he could actually  _ see _ him. The way Keith was moving between the register and the counter to make drinks almost looked like a dance. Keith occasionally bumped into Brian who was alternating with him and it ruined the flow, but Lance was still drawn to the two.

Before he knew it, it was Lance’s turn. “Hi, what can I get for –“ Keith looked up. “Hey Lance.”

Lane managed a small smile. He was still positive that Keith was upset with him, regardless of what Pidge constantly told him. “Hey. Can I just get my usual?”

“Yup,” Keith said with a smile.

“Thanks.” He pulled out his wallet, already knowing his total.

Keith pushed Lance’s wallet down and Lance became hyper aware of Keith’s hand touching his. “Don’t worry about it.”

“Keith, I –“

“Brian, Lance’s usual.” He turned back to Lance. “Seriously.”

Lance heard Brain reply to Keith but didn’t pay him much attention. He sighed, a little defeated. “Okay.” He moved over to what was now known as his table. It surprised Lance that even when it was so busy, no one had sat there. He watched as Keith made small talk with the next customer. They both laughed about something and Lance couldn’t help but smile looking at Keith’s smile. He found it contagious. He watched as Keith went to help Brian make the drinks now that all the customers had ordered.

“Is he okay?” Brian asked Keith once he came over to help make the drinks.

“Mhmm.” Keith focused on making the drinks.

“Keith.”

“He’s been getting sleep. Pidge makes sure of that and we’ve been having dinner every night. So I know he’s eating something.”

Brian knew vaguely about what happened with Lance, but it was mostly what he had heard from other people. Keith still hadn’t spoken to him about it. “Is that why he disappeared for a while?”

“Yeah.”

“How are you holding up?”

“I’m managing. Between finals coming up and having to work extra shifts to cover the hospital bills, I’m barely in the apartment. Someone is always with him so I’m not worried.”

Brian put the drink he was working on down and leaned against the counter facing Keith. “Why are you avoiding him? He seemed to light up to just see you here.”

“I…” Keith’s actions faltered. “It’s complicated.” He was hoping no one would notice that he was keeping himself busy so he could spend less time with Lance. Keith couldn’t help feeling insignificant ever since he found out everything that was going on with Lance. He offered his help so many times, yet Lance never trusted to talk to Keith about it. He couldn’t help but feel this could’ve been avoided if he just hadn’t taken no for an answer.

Brain handed off the last of the drinks, causing most of the people crowding the shop to leave. “Well, we are now slow and you have three more hours to tell me. So let’s talk. After you give Lance his coffee.” Brian handed Keith Lance’s coffee.

He sighed as he took the cup. He placed it on the table, unsure if he should interrupt Lance while he was working.

Lance looked up and smiled. “Thanks. How are you doing?”

Keith’s smile faltered slightly. “I’m good. You?”

“Besides the fact that there’s always someone around me watching me, I’m doing better.” Lance could tell that Keith didn’t believe him. “Keith, I want you to listen to me. I know I’ve apologized for my actions over and over again, but please believe me now. I’m truly sorry to have put you in such a situation, it was never my intention to do so. I know now that I have friends I can lean on for support – that I can lean on you for support. I really am doing fine now. Thanks to you and Pidge, I’m feeling back to my usual self…with the addition of a few pounds. So, thank you…and I’m sorry.”

Keith looked away. “I just…yeah, it’s not a problem. You don’t need to apologize anymore, ‘kay? Just make sure to go home soon. You need to eat on time and take your meds.” Keith patted Lance on the shoulder before walking back to the front counter.

Although Keith walked away before Lance had the chance to reply, he quietly spoke to himself regardless of whether the retreating figure could hear him or not. “What did I do to deserve your friendship?”

Lance hid his smile as he got back to work. He knew Keith would be done with his shift early tonight since finals were coming, but decided against walking back with him. Lance knew he would just end up apologizing and spewing excuses for his behavior the entire time. He worked for another hour, and once he determined that he had made up for lost time, Lance packed up. Before he headed out, a girl he hadn’t seen before approached him.

“Uhm, hi Lance,” she shyly said.

“Hi…” Lance was confused and didn’t hide it. His eyebrows wrinkled together as he tried to place her. “Do I know you?”

“No, you don’t. My friend was in your class once and I joined her when she went to your office hours. I honestly would’ve asked you out on the spot but my friend told me not to because you’re ‘the coldest TA’ on campus. But I’ve been hearing new things about you since then and finally got the courage to do this. So, Lance, would you like to go on a date with me?”

Lance was stunned. He didn’t know what to do. He looked up at Keith, who was walking to the back of the coffee shop, for help and received none. “First things first, what’s your name?”

The girl blushed, her entire face turning red. “How embarrassing! My name is Liz. Liz Middleton.”

What was the right answer? What should he say? He remembered his conversation with Hunk. She was actually asking Lance out and he wasn’t as dense as he used to be. He looked back over to the door to the back of the shop where Keith currently was.

Lance smiled. “It’s nice to meet you Liz Middleton. I would love to go on a date with you.” 

* * *

_ Scene II _

* * *

 

It had been only a couple days since Lance met Liz, and he was getting ready for his date. While walking back to the apartment, Lance ran into Allura and Shiro. They both urged him to set up the date soon and Lance couldn’t help but think it was due to the fact that they didn’t want her to change her mind. Better yet, they didn’t want Lance to change _ his _ mind.

He sighed. Keith and Pidge knew about the date, but that knowledge isn’t what bothered him. It was the fact that he expected Pidge to tease or mock him in even the slightest way, but he received nothing. In fact, during dinner – the only time the three of them were actually in the same room together – Lance felt as though the two were purposefully avoiding the subject of his date.

And he was at a loss for what to do. 

All Lance wanted was for things to go back to normal... _ but what even was normal anymore?  _ Lance knew the answer to that. 

Normal was watching Keith finish his meets.

It was sitting at his spot in the coffee shop, so engrossed in his work that Keith would scold him for letting his drink go cold while already bringing him a new one.

It was the weekend dinners where the duo came over and kept Lance company while he made dinner for them. Lance didn’t know if he would ever be able to experience normal again.

Looking himself over once more in the bathroom mirror, Lance gave himself a nervous smile which failed at reassuring himself. He turned off all the lights, said his goodbye to Blue, and headed out the door. Currently Pidge was doing laundry and Keith was with a study group. If he really wanted, he could wait another five or so minutes for Pidge to come back to get some words of encouragement from them. Lance glanced at his phone. If he planned on catching the bus to the restaurant, he didn’t have the luxury of waiting for Pidge.

He made his way out of the apartment to the nearest bus stop. The weather had been getting cooler, but not cold enough that Lance needed to bring a coat with him – the long sleeves of his button down sufficed. A part of him knew though, that he might regret his choice when coming back to the apartment. He also knew that if anyone was up, they would give him an earful for trying to catch a cold on top of everything that had happened.

The restaurant wasn’t far from where he was, so he didn’t have much time to sit around and hype himself up. God, it had been so long since he had been on a date. What were you supposed to talk about? He was supposed to pay for the meal, right? What do I do if she doesn’t enjoy herself? Shiro and Allura made dating look so easy. They’re always on the same page, they seem to know what the others wants or needs. 

_ “I originally said no.” _

Lance recalled Allura’s words when he ran into her after meeting Liz. He asked the two of them if it was love at first sight and Allura told him that she originally rejected Shiro when he asked her out. Lance chuckled at the conversation that came out of his question. 

_ Shiro couldn’t help the small smile that formed as he spoke. “I remember all the guys on the team made fun of me after that. They also praised you for being able to ‘resist my charm’.”  _

_ “But,” Allura said dragging out the word, “after that, I found myself running into Shiro more and more and honestly, I could not stop thinking about him. Not in a lovey-dovey way, but more like ‘I wonder what Shiro is doing right now’ or ‘I think Shiro would really like this’ -” _

_ “Despite not actually knowing me.” _

_ Allura rolled her eyes. “Yes, yes, I was looking at clothes and mentally putting together outfits you would look good in. But look at me now! I get to dress you up in whatever I want.” She couldn’t stop herself from grinning and winking at Shiro. “As I was saying, I found that when I least expected it, Shiro would creep into my mind. So after a couple weeks, I approached him.” _

And they had been together for four years now. Lance relaxed a little. He knew that if he approached this date with a million questions and scenarios running through his head, he would ruin the night. He took a deep breath and got off the bus. It was now or never. 

Lance walked over to the entrance of the restaurant. He made a quick reservation and waited for Liz. As he waited, a new question popped up in his mind. What if she doesn’t show up at all? Lance immediately felt his heart rate increase and his hands got sweaty. This was not the time nor place for him to have a melt down. He had been at peace with his anxiety for a while, but this whole hospital thing had put him over the end and he felt as though his control over the situation faltered. He hadn’t told anyone, but he had been feeling anxious ever since he woke up in a hospital bed and he couldn’t quite recover from it. Second thoughts began creeping in Lance’s mind, causing him to think about leaving all together, but after a total of seven minutes of waiting, Lance saw Liz walking up to him. She had a smile on her face and she was wearing a lovely dress. Lance managed to smile back without managing to show his nerves.

“Have you been waiting long?” she asked immediately.

“No, I haven’t.” Lance took a moment to fully look at Liz. “You look beautiful.”

Her smile widened. “Thank you, you look great too.”

Lance didn’t think he looked great, Liz clearly put in more effort. Her dress may have been a simple, black cocktail dress, but he could tell she took the time to do her makeup and her hair. He had seen his mother get ready for parties and events before he was kicked out and it taught him to pay attention to the small details. 

Right on cue, the host called out his name and took the two to their table. 

“Have you been here before?” Lance asked as they both opened the menu.

Liz shook her head. “No, but my roommates told me the food here is amazing.”

“I agree. You should try the Louisiana pasta if you like spicy. If you don’t, the ravioli is really good too.”

Liz put her menu down. “How about...you order for me. I eat everything, spicy or not, so give me your recommendation and I’ll accept it! Oh, except anything with peanuts. I’m allergic.”

Lance was glad his menu was up because he couldn’t stop his face from reacting to her words. He was shocked, definitely not expecting this turn of events. She said she eats everything, but is it a test? Does she expect him to order something healthy for her? What if he gets something for her and she takes it as an insult to her figure? It was never this hard to decide what to cook for Keith.

“Lance?”

Lance nodded slowly, acknowledging her. “What about fish?”

“I love seafood!”

Their attention turned to the waitress that materialized next to them. “Hi, my name is Marissa, I’ll be your waitress tonight. Can I start you two off with something to drink?”

“Two waters,” Liz stated. She knew enough about Lance to know he didn’t really drink.

“I’ll be right back with those.”

Lance watched as she walked off. He turned his attention back to Liz.  _ What do I say? _

“To be quite honest, I thought you would turn me down,” she said first.

Lance cocked an eyebrow. “Why is that?”

“Your reputation. You’re the coldest TA on campus. I’ve heard the stories of you rejecting people before - both guys and girls I might add - and everyone I know told me not to do it.” 

“Does my being bi bother you?” Lance was taken aback. That was something he hadn’t experienced in a while, definitely not around Keith.

Liz’s eye shot open. “No! Not at all! I was just saying that you don’t have a preference between guys or girls. I could understand if you don’t like the guys at our school. Most of them are...rowdy.”

Lance didn’t know how to feel. He wanted to accept what she said an move on, but her words made him uncomfortable. He felt like she was judging him based on the fact that he hadn’t publicly dated a guy. No one really bugged him about it nowadays, but he had seen Keith deal with it before they became friends. Some guys from a frat had harassed him at work before. They never took any actions but he heard what they said to him. He also remembered how Keith reacted in those situations. He was always level headed, and spoke with a smile. A part of Lance knew that was when he first started paying attention to Keith, but chose to ignore him because liking guys is what caused his life to spiral. Maybe the reason he suppressed his attraction to guys was because of how his parents reacted all those years ago. As if pretending he didn’t like them would cause his parents to let him back into their life.

“Lance?” Liz’s voice snapped Lance back to the dinner. 

“I mostly said no to dating others because I wanted to focus on my classes and being a good TA. But it’s my third year, I’m doing pretty well. I figured I didn’t need to be so tunnel visioned anymore.” Lance wasn’t exactly lying, but it wasn’t the full truth either. 

He recalled Shiro’s text to Lance afterwards. When Allura asked if his questions were for Lance’s date, he lied and said it was research for this book. She bought it easily, but Shiro didn’t.

_ I doubt you asked us those questions for your book. You told me that it was action-fantasy early. No romance at all. Firstly, I won’t tell Allura if you don’t want me to. Secondly, it’s okay to go on a date and realize that you don’t match with that person. Things don’t always flow on first dates, especially if you’re with someone you’ve never spoken to. Hell, my first date with Allura ended up with soda soaked jeans and gum and hay in Allura’s hair. My point is, don’t try to stress over everything being perfect the way you normally do. Be patient with the process. Live in the moment. Just try to loosen up a bit. All the best! _

Shiro failed to mention what to do if your date said something that didn’t resonate with you.

Marissa came back with their waters and took their orders. Lance ordered for the both of them, glancing at Liz after Marissa left to make sure her order was fine. 

“I’ve never had jambalaya before. But it sounds good!”

Lance released the breath he had been holding. Were first dates supposed to be like walking on eggshells? Once he began opening up to Keith, he never felt this way. Never. Lance couldn’t recall being this careful around Keith except when he was apologizing and that was mostly because he knew Hunk would kill him for messing up a possible friendship. 

“Lance?” Liz was looking at him concerned.

“Yes? I’m sorry, what were you saying?”

“Nothing...is something on your mind? You keep zoning out.” 

“I, uh...it’s…”

_ “...Shiro would creep into my mind…” _

_ “...I couldn’t stop thinking about him…” _

_ “...you don’t match with that person…” _

Lance stood up. “I’m really sorry, Liz. You’re a nice person, but I...I think I like someone else…”

Liz gave Lance a small smile. “I felt like this was too good to be true…”

“Get the dinner to-go. I’ll pay. Again, I’m sorry.” Lance rushed out after leaving some money on the table. He had just missed the bus and decided to walk home as fast as he could. A new wave of energy hit him.

He liked Keith.

He. 

Liked.

Keith.

Fuck...he liked Keith…

He liked the guy who he literally just put through hell. Keith had just started looking at him and talking to him again, and was working extra shifts despite finals coming up to pay to hospital bills Lance couldn’t afford. What was he supposed to do now?

Lance felt like his heart was about to leap out of his chest. And it wasn’t from the brisk walk. He had no clue as to what steps he needed to take next, but all he wanted to do was get back home.

Home.

This was the first time Lance had referred to Keith and Pidge’s apartment as his home. If he were being honest, it wasn’t the place he was staying at that felt like home, it was Keith making him feel at home wherever they were. Lance had to admit that Keith’s aura was one of the biggest reasons he enjoyed being at the coffee shop, even before they knew each other.

Lance made it to the apartment albeit he felt like he was dying. “Man, I need to start hitting the gym.”

He unlocked the door and entered to find Pidge at the dining table. They were working on something on their laptop, but the headset made Lance think they were playing games instead of studying. They didn’t look up from the screen but still addressed Lance.

“Was the date so bad that she chased you all the way back here?”

“I left her.”

That cause Pidge to pay attention to Lance. “Goddamnit!” they shouted at the screen as their character died. Removing the headset, they turned to face Lance who sat down at the table. “What do you mean ‘you left her’?”

“She was talking and I kept remembering things Shiro and Allura told me. And then I couldn’t stop comparing the entire night with the times I’ve spent with Keith - and you.” Pidge smirked at the last statement. “I told her...Pidge, I think I like Keith. I’m not entirely sure, but I know I feel for him more than what a friend would.”

“Took ya long enough.” They closed their laptop. “I’ve been waiting to see how long it would take you to realize.”

Lance was dumbstruck. “What do you mean? How did you know how I felt?”

They crossed their arm. “Well, at first I thought you were just trying to be on your best behavior after you almost fucked up your chance at having a friendship with Keith. Then I realized that you didn’t realize your actions. I was one hundred percent sure the morning after he spent the night with you. I know what you’re like in the mornings, especially when you got little to no sleep. The Lance that I knew was not the Lance I saw that morning. All I was waiting for was you to realize it yourself.”

Lance didn’t blink. He was in between in awe and horror. Was he that transparent or was Pidge just that bored?

“Now that you’ve realized it, what are you gonna do?”

“Not go any dates with other people.”

Pidge suppressed the urge to roll their eyes. “You’re hopeless.”

Lance shrugged. “I’m at a loss for what to do myself…”

“Well, no one can tell you besides yourself.” They got up. “Think about it carefully. You can only confess to Keith once. Don’t fuck it up.”

Lance simply nodded. He got up and went to his room. Now it was time to figure out how and when to tell Keith his feelings. He found Blue curled up in the middle of the bed. Not even bothering to look at Lance, he greeted his owner with a lazy meow and focused on cleaning himself.

“Living here has really made you lazy, hasn’t it cat?” At the sound of the word cat, Blue turned to Lance and hissed. “At least I know that still works to get your attention.”

Lance sat down, a sad smile on his face. Blue got up and moved to Lance’s lap. “I figured it out, Blue. So why am I so scared? Shouldn’t I be happy?” Blue simply looked up at Lance.

He sighed and leaned back onto the headboard. He closed his eyes. The next couple of weeks were going to be too busy for him to talk to Keith, so it would have to be during winter break. It was a good thing that they forced Lance to stay until the New Year. That would plenty of time for Lance to say something. Hopefully.

* * *

_Scene III_

* * *

 

Lance hadn’t realized that he dozed off until his stomach growling woke him up. He never ate at the restaurant, nor did he take his food to go. He got up to get some food, but stopped before he opened the door. It was opened slightly, allowing him to clearly hear the voices in the living room.

“Lance came back from his date early.”

Keith had just gotten back home and Blue left the room to greet him. Lance couldn’t stop the cat from pushing the door open more so he crouched down to listen to the conversation. He knew he shouldn’t eavesdrop but he wanted to know what they talked about when he wasn’t there. Moreso after hearing Pidge say his name.

“Did he?” Keith asked, not sounding interested. “Hey Blue, did you have dinner already?”

Lance heard the cat respond. It was half past twelve, and Lance was one step away from stepping out to stop Keith from feeding Blue. His cat had gained some weight ever since coming to the apartment and Lance knew that Keith had been sneaking Blue some extra food. When he didn’t hear Keith get up, he stayed put.

“Yeah, he didn’t tell me why. He just said that it felt off.”

“Probably because he hasn’t been on a date in a while and got nervous. You know how he gets with new things, all anxious.”

“I know, but I still think it’s because of something else.”

Lance heard Keith sigh. “Pidge…” his voice sounded like he was warning Pidge of something, but Lance didn’t know what.

There was a moment where Lance couldn’t hear anything. Finally, the sound of Keith getting up made Lance freeze. “Get some sleep.” There was a brief pause. “And stop gaming right now. You’ll live if you go two weeks without playing.”

Pidge muttered something that Lance couldn’t hear. The two retired to their rooms, but Lance didn’t get up to get food. He wondered what the two exchanged in the silence. He waited for Blue to come back before getting in bed. After a few minutes, he figured Blue went to Keith’s room and got up to change. He knew he shouldn’t eat before going to bed, but Lance still pulled out an energy bar he stole from the pantry in the morning. It wasn’t dinner but it was better than trying to go to sleep on an empty stomach.

After brushing his teeth and washing his face, Lance got into bed. “Once finals end, I’ll come up with a plan.” Yet, Lance fell asleep trying to come up with ideas to tell Keith his feelings.

* * *

“Keith, how many times did you improvise today?” the director shouted.

Lance flinched at the voice from his dressing room, so he could only imagine Keith’s reaction. He did notice Keith was struggling today. It wasn’t like him. Normally, it was Lance who messed up more. He headed out to check up on what was happening. He wasn’t the only one though. Shiro was also there along with Pidge.

“What was wrong today? You were totally out of it.”

“He’s been going through a rough time. You know he’s almost done with his album, his label is pressuring him to finish earlier.” Shiro had his hand on Keith’s back.

The director’s expression changed from annoyance to sympathy. “I get it. But you know that your first film is a huge deal. Especially when you’re working with such big names. It reflects badly on all of us if the new kid isn’t up to par. We’re all taking a chance on you.”

“It was one day, can’t you cut him some slack?”

Lance watched the two talk while Keith stared at the floor, not saying a word. “Keith -”

“I’ll do a better job tomorrow,” Keith said, cutting off Lance. He finally looked up at the director. “I’m sorry about my performance today, but I’ll be better tomorrow.” Without waiting for a reply, Keith left for the parking lot. 

“Lance, you have a commercial shoot right now, c’mon.” Gina pulled Lance’s arm to get him to follow her, not letting him go after Keith.

* * *

The filming for the commercial ended early since everything was going better than expected.

“So this is what motivated you to do the best possible job you could,” Gina remarked as the car pulled up in front of Keith’s studio.

“I just wanna talk to him - make sure he’s okay.”

Gina hummed. “Go on then. Go make sure he’s okay. Sometimes you really are like your on-screen counterparts.”

Lance got out of the car without responding. He knew what she meant. Lance was clueless about how to tell Keith his feelings. He didn’t want to bring it up and run the risk of Keith not feeling the same way, and still having to film with him. He headed inside, unsure of where to find Keith. His determination didn’t waver. It was late and many people had already left for the day. He walked up to security. 

“Can I help you?” the guard asked, immediately recognizing Lance.

“Yeah, did you know if Keith Kogane is here?”

The guard nodded. “He is. Did you want me to find out where he is?”

Lance smiled. “If you don’t mind.”

The guard spoke into the walkie talkie clipped in their uniform top. A response came back in seconds and the guard stood up. “I can take you there if you’d like.”

“Thank you.”

Lance followed behind, getting on the elevator. He was getting nervous. He had no reason to be, but he couldn’t stop his hands from sweating. It felt like the elevator was moving as slow as possible. Lance did his best not to shift his weight from foot to foot and sang songs in his head to in attempt to calm himself. Lance jumped when the doors opens, proving that his nerves were nowhere near calm.

The guard pointed. “Just down to the left and it’ll be the third door on your right.” Lance nodded, words escaping him in the moment. Instead, he managed a weak smile.

The guard simply chuckled. “Good luck to ya, kid. I’m rooting for you,” the guard said as the doors closed. 

He took a deep breath. “Okay, it’s just Keith.”

Once he found the room, Lance hesitated. A part of him told him to let it go, but another part - a more persistent part - of him wanted to continue helping his friend. Who was Lance kidding, he was hoping this would lead to them being more than just friends. He opened the door and lightly knocked on the door before popping his head into the room.

“Hello?” He looked around in the recording studio, surprised to find Keith alone in the room.

Keith looked up with an expression that told Lance just how tired he was. “Hey,” he replied with a smile.

Lance entered and closed the door behind him. “I just wanted to check up on you after...yeah.”

Keith patted the seat next to him on the couch and Lance didn’t need to be told twice. “I deserved it, my mind wasn’t in any of the scenes.”

“Was Shiro right?”

Keith went back to looking at his notebook. “Huh? Oh, yeah. The head of my label wants me to release the album two weeks early and that means everything needs to be finalized, ideally, by tomorrow in order for everything to be on track. But this isn’t an ideal world and even if I stay here all night, I won’t finish.” He flipped back and forth between a couple of pages. “I sent everyone else home which was stupid on my part, but I wanted them to go home to their families. They’ve been working lots of late nights for me so I figured I could handle finishing this up myself.”

Lance nodded, taking in all the information. “So...I’ve never created or released an album before. What exactly do you need to do now? I thought you had all the songs.”

Keith placed the notebook on the table. “Yeah, but even while releasing a full album, the maximum number of songs I can have is about twelve and that’s give or take a couple depending on if I’ll release a deluxe version and the length of each song. I mean, it’s my album so I can technically keep changing the songs until the CDs are created, but I still have around thirty songs I recorded for this album.”

“Thirty?!”

“It’s honestly not as much as I’ve done in the past. I had around fifty for my last album, but I also had a lot more time to narrow it down.” Lance could hear how tired Keith was from his voice. He also remembered how successful Keith’s last album was. He could only imagine what the songs that got cut sounded like. “But I can’t just choose my favorites and call it an album. I need to make sure they blend well together and they fit the theme of my album. On top of that, I have to make sure that if I choose a sampled song, that I have all the paperwork for it and that it has been okayed by the person I’m sampling. Once I choose the songs, I need to make sure all the files are in the correct formatting for the best audio. The artwork needs to be legalized as well. Once everything has been finalized, I need to send the CD off to the distributor to begin production.” Keith was rambling on. “Once all of that is done, I have to focus on promotions. Where the album will be released - as in platforms - shows to appear on, performances, tour dates, merch.”

Lance’s head was reeling. “That’s a lot of information.”

Keith hadn’t realized how fast he was talking. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to overwhelm you.”

“It’s fine. So where are you in the process?” Lance picked up the notebook.

“Well,” Keith started checking things off on his fingers. “All the sampling had been checked off by the original creators. All features have recorded and signed off on the final version of the song. The artwork is legalized and ready to go. Honestly, I just need to focus on choosing the songs right now and then I can focus on the promotion details.” Keith pushed back some strands of hair that had fallen out of his bun.

“Don’t you have a team to do that for you?”

Keith nodded. “But I need to give them my input. I want to get it all out as soon as I can so they can get to work on it.”

Lance cracked his knuckles. “Then let’s get to work.”

Keith stared at Lance surprised. “What?”

“I want to help. I had fun when you came over and I helped you with the song.” He wasn’t lying. Sure, hashing out the past wasn’t an enjoyable trip down memory lane, but it didn’t mean he didn’t like seeing the gears turning in Keith’s mind. Lance didn’t want his part of the whole process to end there.

“I couldn’t ask you to help me, Lance -”

“Are you saying that because of my lack of knowledge in this field? Because I listen to a LOT of music and I think that classifies me as good enough to help you choose songs.” Lance had his hand on his chest and tightly gripped the notebook.

Keith was speechless for a second. “No, it’s because when you don’t get enough sleep, you’re cranky and spend even more time in makeup.”

“Oh.”

“I appreciate it -”

Lance placed a finger on Keith’s lips. “I am helping, and that’s that. Play me a song. No wait, what’s the title?”

“Title?” Keith asked around the finger on his lips.

“Album title?”

He swatted Lance’s hand away from his face. “It’s actually self-titled.”

“It chose its own name?!”

Keith laughed. Lance didn’t believe how wholeheartedly Keith was laughing. “No, no. I mean I named it after myself. Keith Kogane.”

Lance felt stupid. Maybe he really wasn’t qualified to help Keith. Keith got up from the couch and sat down in front of a computer. “The album is supposed to represent different parts of my life, past, present, and future.” He played a song. “There  _ are _ a few songs I wrote that just came to me. They don’t necessarily fit in with my life, but they seemed like they were necessary for the album.”

Lance listened to the song. And the next. And the next. As he listened to each song, he would write his comments down in the notebook. There were a few he knew he had to listen to again after hearing Keith’s commentary. There were a few that he told Keith to skip after the first thirty seconds because it didn’t suit Keith at all. He didn’t know how long he had been on that couch just listening to Keith’s voice - mixed in with the rare feature. It was almost like a therapy session. Keith’s voice was so soothing to listen to, that Lance didn’t care if it was a song about heartache or about worldly problems. He was enjoying himself so much, he didn’t realize that it was already passed 1 am.

Instead of calling it a night, Lance pushed on. He was excited to be apart of this process, it gave him some insight on Keith’s life in more than just one way. Lance was able to see the type of work that Keith did working in music, which made him feel like they were even now since Keith knew what is was like working in a movie. He was also learning more about Keith from his songs because, as Keith had pointed out in an old interview, his songs said the things he couldn’t say. It was his way of communicating to others when things got too hard or scary for him. Each song was peeling back another layer of the onion known as Keith Kogane and this was an experience Lance would never trade up. 

“So you really think these are the best songs?” Keith asked, looking over the titles Lance had marked again.

“Dude, those are the best songs that represent you. The world will be mind-blown.” Lance imitated his mind exploding.

Keith wasn’t sure. “I guess they do.”

“But?”

Keith shrugged. “I just think I shouldn’t throw all of this at my listeners. I had a few songs that don’t have to relate to me personally, they just sound like they work well with the feel of the album.”

Lance raised an eyebrow. “Like what song?”

“Halcyon Days.”

“No, no no no. That has such a different feel from every other song.” Lance kept shaking his head.

Keith kept going. “That song is about my parents. I also really like RDJ. That one is based on my experiences from when I visited Rio de Janeiro.”

“Again, doesn’t fit the theme.” Lance recalled the upbeat music that had a Latin flare to it.

Keith chuckled. “I didn’t know you were a sucker for the slow songs.”

Lance got up, offended. “I love all songs.”

“I can’t have an entire album of slow songs. It’ll put people to sleep.” Keith got up as well. “I need to add some upbeat songs in there.” Keith played RDJ.

Lance rolled his eyes. He did a small chacha over to the computer and changed the song to one of his favorites. It was a slow song and it hit him directly with the feels. He was happy Keith’s back was towards him when Lance heard it the first time because he couldn’t stop the tears from falling. Grabbing Keith’s hand, Lance pulled him towards his body. He held Keith close to him by placing a hand on the small of his back. They swayed slowly to the song.

“See. You can’t do this with a fast song.” Lance ignored how his heart started beating faster from the proximity to Keith’s face. Even if Keith was paying more attention to his feet rather than Lance’s face.

Keith sighed. He looked at Lance through his bangs. “And your point is?”

Lance couldn’t get his mouth to communicate what his brain wanted him to say. He stopped moving and his hand fell from Keith’s back to his waist. This was it. It was now or never. Lance tilted his head slightly and moved his face closer to Keith’s. Seeing how Keith wasn’t moving away, Lance took it as a sign to keep going. His lips hovered over Keith’s. But right before he had the chance to kiss him, Lance’s phone began ringing, making the two jump away from each other.

Lance groaned internally, moving away from Keith. Keith cleared his throat and began cleaning up all his stuff.

Lance answered his phone. “What?” Lance tried to keep the annoyance out of his voice.

“Where are you?” Mira’s voice sounded concerned. He forgot to tell her that he was helping Keith.

“Sorry Mira, I came to the studio to help Keith -”

Mira squealed. “Carry on!” she shouted before hanging up.

Lance turned back to Keith only to find him ready to head out. “I believe we’re done here,” Keith said. “You should go home, get some rest.”

Lance frowned. “What about everything else that’s left?”

Keith waved his hand. “It’s all promotions, merchandise, and tour dates. Stuff I need to work on with my team. It’ll be another day or two, hopefully, before it’s all done. I appreciate everything you’ve done tonight, but you really need to get sleep. So do I.”

“Uh, yeah. Okay…” Lance tried not to show his disappointment. “I had fun tonight.”

Keith gave him a tired smile, one that resembled the smile he first gave Lance when he walked in. “I did too. I see you later?”

“Yeah, in like seven hours.” Lance grabbed his phone and keys. “I’ll walk with you.”

The two of them walked back to the parking lot in silence. There was a tension in the air that was too innocent to be sexual, but too sexual to be between ‘just friends’. Lance didn’t know if he could take it. He was so close,  _ so close _ to kissing Keith. But the mood was gone and he didn’t want it to be weird between the two. In the parking lot, the two stood in front of each other.

“Uh, goodnight,” Lance said.

Keith waved. “Night. Text me when you’re home.”

Lance nodded and watched Keith get on his bike and drive away. Lance had one small dilemma. His manager dropped him off here. He had to walk all the way home now. Sighing, he began his long journey home. He called Mira to let her know about his predicament and since she was in a good mood, she agreed to pick him up. It was a long night, and the next day would be even longer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter: MERRY CHRISTMAS ~~in the middle of summer~~


	15. Act 15: Pickles Jr.

* * *

_Scene I_

* * *

 

Finals had ended and Keith was able to sleep in for once. Technically, he hadn’t slept for 48 hours. He had four finals in two days and he knew that it wasn’t healthy or the best way to prepare for finals, but he didn’t have much time and he needed to keep his grades up. So Pidge let him sleep while they worked on their personal projects.

The vibration from their phone made them jump a little. They looked at the screen and saw a text from Lance. Lance had moved out after finals. He had been cleared by the doctor when he went to get his last physical. Since Keith was now written as his dependent, he accompanied Lance to a family practitioner who confirmed Lance’s health. Lance was still quick to get light headed and tired, both of which were due to his anemia. Pidge usually checked up on him to make sure he was taking his medication for it, but a text could only do so much.

They opened the message from Lance.

**Lance** : I have an idea and I need your help   
**Pidge** : What’s up?   
**Lance** : I want to do something for Keith   
**Pidge** : Like, right now?   
**Lance** : Yeah, if you don’t mind. He’s helped me out so much without even knowing me that well. I want to repay him somehow.   
**Pidge** : Repay him how?   
**Lance** : A Christmas gift?   
**Pidge** : What do you have planned?   
**Lance** : Can you meet me at the shelter?   
**Pidge** : Sure, what time?   
**Lance** : Now…

Pidge rolled their eyes. Of course Lance was already there. They texted Lance that they’ll be there in fifteen minutes. Gently opening Keith’s door, they checked up on him and saw that he was still asleep. They headed down to the shared car, knowing Keith would probably be asleep for another few hours.

It didn’t take long for them to get to the shelter. Lance was already inside, waiting for Pidge. He smiled when he saw them walk in.

“So what are we doing here?” Pidge asked.

“I was trying to figure out what would be the best gift to get Keith and then I remembered how he told me that he had a cat.”

“Right...Pickles…” Pidge loved that cat but hated the name. They secretly gave Pickles a different name, but the cat never caught on.

Lance led Pidge to the back room with the kittens. “I’ve also seen how much he loves being with Blue, so I figured I could get him a cat for Christmas.”

Pidge just stared at Lance, speechless for once.

Lance, who was busy looking at the kittens, glanced at Pidge when he didn’t get a response. “What? Is it that terrible of an idea? I’m not really good at this - at giving gifts and saying my feelings.”

“No...it’s a good idea. I’m just surprised it came from you. It’s just…”

“Just what?”

Pidge shrugged and began looking at the kittens. “It’s romantic. But I guess that you’re going for romantic.” Lance couldn’t hide the blush that spread over his face even if he wanted to. 

He hadn’t thought of the romance factor. Lance didn’t see how giving someone an animal was romantic, but he didn’t question it. He just let Pidge think that romance was what he was going after.

The two had been looking at the kittens for about ten minutes when Lance started becoming impatient. “Have you found one yet?”

“This is your gift, you should be looking harder than me,” Pidge replied.

“None of them seem right to me…” Lance was being picky. He wanted the best kitten he could find at this shelter. He only wanted the best for Keith.

Lance stretched. He was starting to feel the fatigue of being up since six, but he didn’t want to leave without finding a kitten. He watched as Pidge moved to the opposite side of the shelter.

“Found it!” they shouted.

Lance joined them to see what kitten they were so excited about. Pidge was holding what appeared to be a small, Bengal Manx. “This is it. This is Pickles!”

Lance felt his stomach flip. He found what he was looking for. He immediately filled out the paperwork and finalized all the details.

“I was thinking Keith should name her. She’s going to be his cat after all,” Lance stated.

“Maybe you should have a backup name just in case. I know him, he’ll probably name her something just as stupid as Pickles if we leave it up to him.” Pidge had a point. Lance had a feeling that Keith would end up naming this beautiful kitten something dumb. He wrote down a name on the paperwork before handing it over. “I can keep her at my place until Christmas.”

“Maybe it’s a good thing you moved out now. Will you be fine with her?”

Lance nodded. “It’s only a couple of days, I should be fine.”

Pidge fully turned to face Lance once they were outside with the new kitten. “Lance, before you go, I need to ask you a question.”

Lance looked at Pidge questioningly, but didn’t say anything.

“Do you love him?”

Lance blinked. He looked away from Pidge. Did he love Keith? “I...don’t think I remember what it feels like to love someone else. I’ve lived on my own for so long now, and I’ve fought with Hunk more than felt like he’s my family in the past couple years.” Lance looked down at the cat carrier in his hand. “Do you normally buy pets for friends?”

Pidge shook their head. “Nothing bigger than a goldfish.”

“Can I get back to you on that?”

Pidge smiled at Lance, a rare occurrence. “I’m trusting you with my best friend, got it? Hurt him and I’ll hurt you.”

“No need to threaten me. I never want to see Keith hurt again. Not after how it made me feel to know that I was the one to hurt him.” Lance smiled at the ground. “I better get going. I’ll see you in a couple of days.”

Pidge waved and walked to their car. Lance couldn’t hide the excitement he felt knowing that in a few days, he was going to be giving Keith the second best gift he ever received. Was it love? Lance hoped it was. He hoped Keith would love him back.

* * *

_Scene II_

* * *

 

Christmas day.

It was finally here.

Lance had managed to bring the kitten in a box. He made holes on the top for it, but he was still concerned with the oxygen flow and wanted to get gifts over with as soon as possible. Blue was with him as well, but the cat disappeared the moment he entered the apartment. Lance watched Keith in the kitchen, moving quickly from one place to another. Pidge had informed Lance that he woke up late and was running behind with the food. Keith instructed Lance to sit and relax as the two worked in the kitchen. Lance used this time to move the lid off the box slightly, so he could check on the kitten. The loud holiday music thankfully covered any sounds that came from the kitten.

Once the food was done, everyone ate. Lunch ended faster than Lance thought due to everyone eating quickly and they all moved to the tree. Lance didn’t know the others’ reason for finishing their food fast, nor did he question it. He was just one step closer to giving Keith his gift.

There were a lot more than six gifts under the tree, but the extra gifts belonged to the others who were home for the holidays and would be given when everyone came back.

Keith quickly shoved a box in Lance’s face. “Merry Christmas!”

Lance took the gift and opened it. He found a gardening toolbox and a few cookbooks Lance had said he wanted a while back. He was surprised that Keith remembered. 

“I remember you saying you wanted those during one of the dinners. I hope you like it,” Keith said with a smile.

“I really appreciate this,” was all that Lance was able to get out. He could hear the facepalm radiating off of Pidge, but didn’t say anything else. He opened his present from Pidge and Pidge proceeded to open their gifts. Finally, it was Keith’s turn. He opened Pidge’s gift first. 

“You got me...a litter box…”

“Merry Christmas!” they shouted.

Keith knew he wasn’t going to get anything else out of them, so he let it be. Lance nervously moved Keith’s gift to him.

He removed the lid and froze. Keith couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Pidge and Lance silently watched as Keith gently lifted the small kitten out of the box and held it close to his chest. He didn’t say a word as he scratched the kitten under her chin with a finger and pet her. Lance was concerned with Keith’s silence but was quickly put at ease when he finally got a look at Keith’s face. He was close to tears with a soft smile on his face.

Keith looked up at Lance. “Thank you so much.” The words came out just a notch above a whisper. 

Lance felt a swirl of pride in his chest. Pride mixed in with something that he couldn’t put his finger on. Pidge watched with a triumphant smile on their face, satisfied with the results. “Whatcha naming her?”

“Pickles Jr.,” Keith replied in a heartbeat.

Lance’s feeling of pride immediately washed away. He groaned. “God no, please anything else.”

Keith looked at Lance with surprise. “What? She looks exactly like Pickles. So what better name than Pickles Jr.?”

Pidge felt the life draining out of them. “For the love of everything that is holy, name the poor thing something else. If you don’t, I’m taking her away. Naming her Pickles Jr. is animal abuse.”

Lance nodded.

Keith looked back down at the small kitten in his hand sadly. “Then what should I name her?”

“Well…” Lance started. He wasn’t sure if Keith would like his idea. “You could call her Red?”

“Red?”

“Yeah, at least that’s what I’ve been calling her the last few days. And that’s her legal name since Pidge figured you would want to name her something stupid.” Lance placed his hands behind him on the carpet and leaned back.

“Pickles is not a stupid name!” Keith said defensively.

“Yes, it is,” both Lance and Pidge said in unison.

Keith held the kitten up to his eye level. “I guess there’s no point in naming her anything else if she already responds to Red. Red it is.” The small kitten mewled and tried to paw at his nose. Unfortunately for the cat, her paw was too short to reach.

“Alright you nerds, I’m gonna go play with my new toys now. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.” They got up with their gifts in tow.

“Pidge, I got you that tablet to use, not to dissect!” Keith reached forward to try to take it out of their hands.

They held it up in the air and waved it around. “But if I don’t figure out how it works, how am I supposed to make it better?” They walked back to their room.

Keith hung his head in defeat. He should’ve known better. Lance patted his shoulder to console him. All was forgotten the second Keith looked at his kitten again.

“How did you know?”

“Pidge helped me actually. They came to the shelter and helped me pick her out.” Lance looked at Red with fond eyes. “Blue will be sad that his new friend is gone now.” Upon hearing his name, the cat came out of Keith’s room. “Guess he missed you too.” Lance chuckled as he pet his cat.

Blue climbed up on Keith’s shoulders and made himself comfortable there. “I guess he did.” He looked at Lance with endearment. “But thank you, Lance. Really. I don’t think I could have gotten a better gift than this.”

Lance blushed. “It was nothing. You’ve done so much for me, I just wanted to find the perfect way to say thank you.” Lance wanted to add that he was sorry for everything he put Keith through, but he recalled Keith’s little speech about not apologizing anymore.

Keith put Red down and Blue leaped off his shoulders. He moved over to Lance and gave him a hug. Lance stiffened.

“I honestly didn’t think you would stick around in my life, but I’m glad you did.” At the sound of those words, Lance relaxed into the hug and wrapped his arms around Keith’s waist. “I know we’ve had our ups and downs, but we both grew and learned and I really do hope you’ll trust me enough to let your walls down every so often.” Keith pulled away. Lance didn’t want to let go, but he had to.

Both of their attention shifted to the cats when they heard something break. An ornament had fallen off one of the lower branches of the tree and Keith quickly picked up the pieces while Lance moved to make sure the cats were okay.

“Sorry, I should have warned you. Red is pretty adventurous. She’s also really talkative. I’m surprised we were able to get through lunch without her making too much noise.” Lance had picked her up in his arms since she wouldn’t stay still long enough to make sure her paws were fine.

“Is that why you kept coughing?” Keith walked back over to Lance.

Lance shifted Red in his arms so she was on her back and watched as she tried to pull Lance’s glasses off of his face. Keith stood in front of him and watched her struggle with a smile on his face.

The feeling he had earlier came back to him and in that moment - while he watched Keith who had nothing but pure joy and happiness in his heart this Christmas - Lance knew what that feeling was. It took him some time, but he finally figured it out. This Christmas was going to be memorable for more reasons than one. 

Lance McClain was in love.

* * *

Pidge couldn’t help but let out an annoyed groan.

Even though most of the cast weren’t required for filming for the last couple of days, everyone showed up. They were all in the Christmas spirit in the middle of July and some of the crew went as far as to hang up mistletoes around the set.

Currently, Shiro and Allura were standing under one of these mistletoes and Pidge was lucky enough to almost walk into the couple.

“You think at this point in your relationship, you wouldn’t be this lovey-dovey.” They pretended to gag.

Allura laughed. “Pidge, I fall in love with this man all over again every day. When that happens, you can’t help but be ‘lovey-dovey’.” She gave Shiro one last kiss before moving back.

“Why are you guys even here? You’re not set to film until next week.”

“For Keith,” Shiro replied. “I wanted to make sure he was doing okay after his last...incident. But he did well today.”

Allura nodded. “I’m also hoping that their cutesy scene gave Lance some courage to tell Keith.”

“I feel like that’s why you two are making out everywhere…”

Allura simply giggled.

“I’m sorry about all the PDA, but I’m with Allura on this one.” Shiro simply shrugged.

“Please tell me they’re not making out again,” Lance said as he walked up to the group with a hand shielding his eyes.

“It’s all clear, but they have a plan for you, so it might not be.” Pidge honestly believed they would start making out in front of Lance to show him what he could be having with Keith if he just told him.

Lance looked all everyone through his fingers. “What is that supposed to mean?”

“Lance, it’s time you tell Keith. After this, Keith has to go on tour. Literally right after this.” Lance looked at Shiro who was using his  _ dad _ voice on him.

“I’m pretty sure the reason filming is gonna stop at the end of this month is for Keith too,” Pidge added.

Shiro shook his head. “Keith hasn’t told me anything about that, and I’m the first he always talks to about this stuff.”

“I heard Keith talking to his manager on the phone right after filming ended, and it is for him. He’s going on basically a mini tour to promote his album. He’s heading out to film his music video for his lead single and by the end of this month, he needs to go to different talk shows and promote.” Allura was doing her best to recall everything she heard Keith talking about. “He’ll be gone for about two to three weeks and I’m almost completely positive that he will be extremely tired. This is probably the best time to tell him how you feel since he’s in the best state of mind he’ll be in until the end of filming.”

“Makes sense,  but he’s still pretty stressed right now. How do we know he won’t get mad at Lance and think he’s being selfish for unloading this on him right now?”

Lance looked at Pidge with annoyance. Curse them and their love of playing Devil’s Advocate. “Guys, I appreciate the concern but -”

“He’s coming this way!” Allura pulled Lance close to where she was standing and everyone scampered off.

Keith watched in confusion as everyone ran off. “What was all that about?”

Lance’s heart began to race. He knew why Allura and moved him. He looked up at the mistletoe hanging above his head.

Keith was too distracted to notice Lance looking up. He was furiously typing away on his phone. Keith put his phone away. “I just wanted to let everyone know that at the end of the month, I need to go on a promo tour, but they all ran away.”

Lance simply nodded.

“By the way, the song you helped me write made it on the album. You have officially made your splash in music.” Keith smiled at him.

“Wait seriously?!” Lance forgot about the mistletoe above them and hugged Keith. “I can’t believe that! I’m gonna buy an album for everyone in my family, Mira won’t believe this.”

Keith hugged him back. “You don’t have to buy them. I was planning on giving you two. One for Mira and one for you.”

Lance pulled back. “Why?”

“There’s a special message in the booklet that I wanted to make sure you read. Plus, I know Mira would get mad at me if I gave you an album and I didn’t give her one.” Keith’s hands fell back to his side, leaving Lance’s hands on his waist.

Lance cocked an eyebrow. “Special message?”

“You won’t know until you see it. I’m not saying more.” His phone buzzed in his pocket and he pulled it out. Lance noticed three new messages from his manager, all in caps, and read the top one about Keith getting to the filming site for his music video. He sensed a shift in Keith’s demeanor and simply moved his hands away.

In that moment, Hunk walked by and noticed the mistletoe. He grinned and called out to the pair. “You better pucker up!”

Keith looked at Hunk and then up at the mistletoe. “These stupid things are all over set and I hate them.” Lance could tell that Keith was thoroughly annoyed, but it was unclear if it was due to the mistletoe, his manager, or a combination of both. 

Lance let out a nervous chuckle, but didn’t say anything. He wanted to kiss Keith, but not at the expense of his discomfort. While Lance was taking Keith’s feeling into account, Hunk was too far to hear Keith and persisted on.

“C’mon Keith. Where’s your Christmas spirit?”

“In December.” Keith did his best not to yell at Hunk because he knew Hunk didn’t deserve to be yelled at.

“Maybe we should just kiss to get him off our backs?” Lance nervously suggested. Lance went to cup Keith’s cheek, but his hand was slapped away.

“Look, I don’t want to take my frustration out on anyone here, least of all you,” Keith spoke to Lance without looking at him, “but I don’t want to kiss you because there’s a stupid tradition to kiss people under a stupid weed.” Keith move away from Lance. “I gotta go.”

Lance watched as he walked away, not trying to stop him. Everyone came running back to Lance, abandoning their hiding spots to figure out what happened.

Lance turned his gaze to his feet as he felt tears threatening to fall. “There you go guys. He doesn’t want to kiss me. I hope you’re all happy.”

Lance pushed passed everyone and found a golf cart. He took it and went back to his dressing room. Once he was in there alone, he locked the door and let the tears fall. He was stupid for letting everyone lead him to believe that this would work. He was stupid for thinking that helping him write a song or figure out his tracklist would be a good enough bonding moment for Keith to develop feelings for him. But most of all, Lance was stupid for allowing someone else to break his heart again.

But Keith was special. He broke Lance’s heart without even trying to and Lance had no idea how to deal with that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter: Happy New Year ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know what you guys think! You can find me at [@soltserra](https://soltserra.tumblr.com/).  
> 


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